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

Isaiah 43:8–13 (Listen)

8   Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
    who are deaf, yet have ears!
9   All the nations gather together,
    and the peoples assemble.
  Who among them can declare this,
    and show us the former things?
  Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,
    and let them hear and say, It is true.
10   “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,
    “and my servant whom I have chosen,
  that you may know and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
  Before me no god was formed,
    nor shall there be any after me.
11   I, I am the LORD,
    and besides me there is no savior.
12   I declared and saved and proclaimed,
    when there was no strange god among you;
    and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.
13   Also henceforth I am he;
    there is none who can deliver from my hand;
    I work, and who can turn it back?”

2 Timothy 4:5–13 (Listen)

5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Personal Instructions

9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

Luke 1:1–4 (Listen)

Dedication to Theophilus

1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

Morning Psalms

Psalm 147 (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!
13   For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
    he blesses your children within you.
14   He makes peace in your borders;
    he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15   He sends out his command to the earth;
    his word runs swiftly.
16   He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.
17   He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
    who can stand before his cold?
18   He sends out his word, and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19   He declares his word to Jacob,
    his statutes and rules to Israel.
20   He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
    they do not know his rules.
  Praise the LORD!

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 82 (Listen)

Rescue the Weak and Needy

A Psalm of Asaph.

82:1   God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2   “How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3   Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
    maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4   Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5   They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
    they walk about in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6   I said, “You are gods,
    sons of the Most High, all of you;
7   nevertheless, like men you shall die,
    and fall like any prince.”
8   Arise, O God, judge the earth;
    for you shall inherit all the nations!

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!