Morning Prayer (Matins) | Evening Prayer (Vespers) | Prayer at the Close of Day (Compline)

Genesis 12:1–7 (Listen)

The Call of Abram

12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Hebrews 11:1–12 (Listen)

By Faith

11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

Morning Psalms

Psalm 48 (Listen)

Zion, the City of Our God

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

48:1   Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
    in the city of our God!
  His holy mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
  Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.
3   Within her citadels God
    has made himself known as a fortress.
4   For behold, the kings assembled;
    they came on together.
5   As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight.
6   Trembling took hold of them there,
    anguish as of a woman in labor.
7   By the east wind you shattered
    the ships of Tarshish.
8   As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the LORD of hosts,
  in the city of our God,
    which God will establish forever. Selah
9   We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
10   As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
  Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11     Let Mount Zion be glad!
  Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!
12   Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
13   consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
  that you may tell the next generation
14     that this is God,
  our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.

Psalm 145 (Listen)

Great Is the Lord

A Song of Praise. Of David.

145:1   I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
2   Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
3   Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.
4   One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
5   On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6   They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
7   They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8   The LORD is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9   The LORD is good to all,
    and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10   All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
    and all your saints shall bless you!
11   They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of your power,
12   to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13   Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
  [The LORD is faithful in all his words
    and kind in all his works.]
14   The LORD upholds all who are falling
    and raises up all who are bowed down.
15   The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
16   You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17   The LORD is righteous in all his ways
    and kind in all his works.
18   The LORD is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
19   He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also hears their cry and saves them.
20   The LORD preserves all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.
21   My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
    and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Evening Psalms

Psalm 9 (Listen)

I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

9:1   I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2   I will be glad and exult in you;
    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3   When my enemies turn back,
    they stumble and perish before your presence.
4   For you have maintained my just cause;
    you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5   You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
    you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6   The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
    their cities you rooted out;
    the very memory of them has perished.
7   But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
    he has established his throne for justice,
8   and he judges the world with righteousness;
    he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9   The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
    a stronghold in times of trouble.
10   And those who know your name put their trust in you,
    for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11   Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion!
    Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12   For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
    he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13   Be gracious to me, O LORD!
    See my affliction from those who hate me,
    O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14   that I may recount all your praises,
    that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
    I may rejoice in your salvation.
15   The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
    in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16   The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
    the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
17   The wicked shall return to Sheol,
    all the nations that forget God.
18   For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
    and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19   Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail;
    let the nations be judged before you!
20   Put them in fear, O LORD!
    Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

Psalm 29 (Listen)

Ascribe to the Lord Glory

A Psalm of David.

29:1   Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
    worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
3   The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the LORD, over many waters.
4   The voice of the LORD is powerful;
    the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5   The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
    the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6   He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
    and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7   The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8   The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
    the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9   The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth
    and strips the forests bare,
    and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10   The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
    the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
11   May the LORD give strength to his people!
    May the LORD bless his people with peace!