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

Jeremiah 38:14–28 (Listen)

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again

14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16 Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the LORD has shown to me: 22 Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,

  “‘Your trusted friends have deceived you
    and prevailed against you;
  now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
    they turn away from you.’

23 All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28 And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

1 Corinthians 15:1–11 (Listen)

The Resurrection of Christ

15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Matthew 11:1–6 (Listen)

Messengers from John the Baptist

11:1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Morning Psalms

Psalm 88 (Listen)

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

88:1   O LORD, God of my salvation,
    I cry out day and night before you.
2   Let my prayer come before you;
    incline your ear to my cry!
3   For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.
4   I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
5   like one set loose among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
  like those whom you remember no more,
    for they are cut off from your hand.
6   You have put me in the depths of the pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.
7   Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
8   You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a horror to them.
  I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9     my eye grows dim through sorrow.
  Every day I call upon you, O LORD;
    I spread out my hands to you.
10   Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11   Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12   Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13   But I, O LORD, cry to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14   O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
15   Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
16   Your wrath has swept over me;
    your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17   They surround me like a flood all day long;
    they close in on me together.
18   You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.

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 6 (Listen)

O Lord, Deliver My Life

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

6:1   O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
    nor discipline me in your wrath.
2   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
    heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.
3   My soul also is greatly troubled.
    But you, O LORD—how long?
4   Turn, O LORD, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5   For in death there is no remembrance of you;
    in Sheol who will give you praise?
6   I am weary with my moaning;
    every night I flood my bed with tears;
    I drench my couch with my weeping.
7   My eye wastes away because of grief;
    it grows weak because of all my foes.
8   Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
    for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
9   The LORD has heard my plea;
    the LORD accepts my prayer.
10   All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Psalm 20 (Listen)

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

20:1   May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
    May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2   May he send you help from the sanctuary
    and give you support from Zion!
3   May he remember all your offerings
    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah
4   May he grant you your heart’s desire
    and fulfill all your plans!
5   May we shout for joy over your salvation,
    and in the name of our God set up our banners!
  May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!
6   Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
    he will answer him from his holy heaven
    with the saving might of his right hand.
7   Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8   They collapse and fall,
    but we rise and stand upright.
9   O LORD, save the king!
    May he answer us when we call.