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

Isaiah 30:18–21 (Listen)

The Lord Will Be Gracious

18   Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
  For the LORD is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

2 Corinthians 4:1–6 (Listen)

The Light of the Gospel

4:1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

John 14:6–14 (Listen)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Morning Psalms

Psalm 119:33–40 (Listen)

He

33   Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
    and I will keep it to the end.
34   Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
    and observe it with my whole heart.
35   Lead me in the path of your commandments,
    for I delight in it.
36   Incline my heart to your testimonies,
    and not to selfish gain!
37   Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
    and give me life in your ways.
38   Confirm to your servant your promise,
    that you may be feared.
39   Turn away the reproach that I dread,
    for your rules are good.
40   Behold, I long for your precepts;
    in your righteousness give me life!

Psalm 147:1–12 (Listen)

He Heals the Brokenhearted

147:1   Praise the LORD!
  For it is good to sing praises to our God;
    for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
2   The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3   He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4   He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
5   Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.
6   The LORD lifts up the humble;
    he casts the wicked to the ground.
7   Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre!
8   He covers the heavens with clouds;
    he prepares rain for the earth;
    he makes grass grow on the hills.
9   He gives to the beasts their food,
    and to the young ravens that cry.
10   His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11   but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.
12   Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!

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 118 (Listen)

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

118:1   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
2   Let Israel say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
3   Let the house of Aaron say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
4   Let those who fear the LORD say,
    “His steadfast love endures forever.”
5   Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
    the LORD answered me and set me free.
6   The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?
7   The LORD is on my side as my helper;
    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
    than to trust in man.
9   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
    than to trust in princes.
10   All nations surrounded me;
    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
11   They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
12   They surrounded me like bees;
    they went out like a fire among thorns;
    in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
13   I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
    but the LORD helped me.
14   The LORD is my strength and my song;
    he has become my salvation.
15   Glad songs of salvation
    are in the tents of the righteous:
  “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,
16     the right hand of the LORD exalts,
    the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”
17   I shall not die, but I shall live,
    and recount the deeds of the LORD.
18   The LORD has disciplined me severely,
    but he has not given me over to death.
19   Open to me the gates of righteousness,
    that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the LORD.
20   This is the gate of the LORD;
    the righteous shall enter through it.
21   I thank you that you have answered me
    and have become my salvation.
22   The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.
23   This is the LORD’s doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
24   This is the day that the LORD has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25   Save us, we pray, O LORD!
    O LORD, we pray, give us success!
26   Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
    We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27   The LORD is God,
    and he has made his light to shine upon us.
  Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
    up to the horns of the altar!
28   You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
    you are my God; I will extol you.
29   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!