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

Deuteronomy 31:30–32:14 (Listen)

The Song of Moses

30 Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:

32:1   “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
    and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2   May my teaching drop as the rain,
    my speech distill as the dew,
  like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
    and like showers upon the herb.
3   For I will proclaim the name of the LORD;
    ascribe greatness to our God!
4   “The Rock, his work is perfect,
    for all his ways are justice.
  A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
    just and upright is he.
5   They have dealt corruptly with him;
    they are no longer his children because they are blemished;
    they are a crooked and twisted generation.
6   Do you thus repay the LORD,
    you foolish and senseless people?
  Is not he your father, who created you,
    who made you and established you?
7   Remember the days of old;
    consider the years of many generations;
  ask your father, and he will show you,
    your elders, and they will tell you.
8   When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided mankind,
  he fixed the borders of the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of God.
9   But the LORD’s portion is his people,
    Jacob his allotted heritage.
10   “He found him in a desert land,
    and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
  he encircled him, he cared for him,
    he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11   Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
    that flutters over its young,
  spreading out its wings, catching them,
    bearing them on its pinions,
12   the LORD alone guided him,
    no foreign god was with him.
13   He made him ride on the high places of the land,
    and he ate the produce of the field,
  and he suckled him with honey out of the rock,
    and oil out of the flinty rock.
14   Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
    with fat of lambs,
  rams of Bashan and goats,
    with the very finest of the wheat—
    and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

Romans 14:13–23 (Listen)

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Luke 8:40–56 (Listen)

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus’s Daughter

40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.

As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” 50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” 51 And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 52 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. 56 And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

Morning Psalms

Psalm 96 (Listen)

Worship in the Splendor of Holiness

96:1   Oh sing to the LORD a new song;
    sing to the LORD, all the earth!
2   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
3   Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
5   For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
    but the LORD made the heavens.
6   Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
8   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
    bring an offering, and come into his courts!
9   Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth!
10   Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!
    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.”
11   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12     let the field exult, and everything in it!
  Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13     before the LORD, for he comes,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
  He will judge the world in righteousness,
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Psalm 148 (Listen)

Praise the Name of the Lord

148:1   Praise the LORD!
  Praise the LORD from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights!
2   Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his hosts!
3   Praise him, sun and moon,
    praise him, all you shining stars!
4   Praise him, you highest heavens,
    and you waters above the heavens!
5   Let them praise the name of the LORD!
    For he commanded and they were created.
6   And he established them forever and ever;
    he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
7   Praise the LORD from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all deeps,
8   fire and hail, snow and mist,
    stormy wind fulfilling his word!
9   Mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars!
10   Beasts and all livestock,
    creeping things and flying birds!
11   Kings of the earth and all peoples,
    princes and all rulers of the earth!
12   Young men and maidens together,
    old men and children!
13   Let them praise the name of the LORD,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his majesty is above earth and heaven.
14   He has raised up a horn for his people,
    praise for all his saints,
    for the people of Israel who are near to him.
  Praise the LORD!

Evening Psalms

Psalm 1 (Listen)

Book One

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

1:1   Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
  nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2   but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.
3   He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
  that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
  In all that he does, he prospers.
4   The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5   Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6   for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 49 (Listen)

Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

49:1   Hear this, all peoples!
    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2   both low and high,
    rich and poor together!
3   My mouth shall speak wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4   I will incline my ear to a proverb;
    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5   Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6   those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7   Truly no man can ransom another,
    or give to God the price of his life,
8   for the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
9   that he should live on forever
    and never see the pit.
10   For he sees that even the wise die;
    the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and leave their wealth to others.
11   Their graves are their homes forever,
    their dwelling places to all generations,
    though they called lands by their own names.
12   Man in his pomp will not remain;
    he is like the beasts that perish.
13   This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
14   Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    death shall be their shepherd,
  and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
    Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15   But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me. Selah
16   Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
17   For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
18   For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19   his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again see light.
20   Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 138 (Listen)

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

138:1   I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
    before the gods I sing your praise;
2   I bow down toward your holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted above all things
    your name and your word.
3   On the day I called, you answered me;
    my strength of soul you increased.
4   All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD,
    for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5   and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
    for great is the glory of the LORD.
6   For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he knows from afar.
7   Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life;
  you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your right hand delivers me.
8   The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
    Do not forsake the work of your hands.