truth shalt thou stablish in the heavens. 3 I have made a covenant with my chosen : I have sworn unto David my servant; 4 Thy seed will I stablish for ever: and set up thy throne from one generation to ano ther. 5 O Lord, the very heavens shall praise thy wondrous works and thy truth in the congregation of the saints. 6 For who is he among the clouds: that shall be compared unto the Lord? 7 And what is he among the gods that shall be like unto the Lord? 8 God is very greatly to be feared in the council of the saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him. 9 O Lord God of hosts, who is like unto thee thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on every side. 10 Thou rulest the raging of the sea thou stillest the waves thereof when they arise. 11 Thou hast subdued Egypt, and destroyed it thou hast scattered thine enemies abroad with thy mighty arm. 12 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: thon hast laid the foundation of the round world, and all that therein is. 13 Thou hast made the north and the south: Tabor and Her mon shall rejoice in thy Name. 14 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. 15 Righteousness and equity are the habitation of thy seat: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. 16 Blessed is the people, O Lord, that can rejoice in thee: they shall walk in the light of thy countenance. 17 Their delight shall be daily in thy Name: and in thy righteousness shall they make their boast. 18 For thou art the glory of their strength and in thy loving-kindness thou shalt lift up our horns. 19 For the Lord is our defence: the Holy One of Israel is our King. 20 Thou spakest sometime in visions unto thy saints, and saidst: I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. 21 I have found David my servant with my holy ofl have I anointed him. 22 My hand shall hold him fast and my arm strengthen him. shall 23 The enemy shall not be able to do him violence the son of wickedness shall not hurt him. 24 I will smite down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him. 25 My truth also and my mercy shall be with him: and in my Name shall his horn be exalted. 26 I will set his dominion also in the sea and his right hand in the floods. 27 He shall call me, Thou art my Father: my God, and my strong salvation. 28 And I will make him my first-born: higher than the kings of the earth. 29 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore and my covenant shall stand fast with him. 30 His seed also will I make to endure for ever and his throne as the days of heaven. 31 But if his children forsake my law: and walk not in my judgements; 32 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments I will visit their offences with the rod, and their sin with scourges. 33 Nevertheless, my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him: nor suffer my truth to fail. 34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips: I have sworn once by my holiness, that I will not fail David. 35 His seed shall endure for ever and his seat is like as the sun before me. 36 He shall stand fast for evermore as the moon and as the faithful witness in hea ven. liveth, and shall not see death: and shall he deliver his soul from the hand of hell? 48 Lord, where are thy old loving-kindnesses: which thou swarest unto David in thy truth? 49 Remember, Lord, the rebuke that thy servants have: and how I do bear in my bosom the rebukes of many people; 50 Wherewith thine enemies have blasphemed thee, and slandered the footsteps of thine Anointed: Praised be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen. PSALM CX. LORD unto But thou hast abhorred T Lord Sit thou on my 37 and forsaken thine Anointed: and art displeased at him. 88 Thou hast broken the covenant of thy servant: and cast his crown to the ground. 39 Thou hast overthrown all his hedges and broken down his strong holds. 40 All they that go by spoil him and he is become a reproach to his neighbours. 41 Thou hast set up the right hand of his enemies: and made all his adversaries to rejoice. 42 Thou hast taken away the edge of his sword and givest him not victory in the battle. 43 Thou hast put out his glory and cast his throne down to the ground. 44 The days of his youth hast thou shortened and covered him with dishonour. 45 Lord, how long wilt thou hide thyself, for ever and shall thy wrath burn like fire? 46 O remember how short my time is wherefore hast thou made all men for nought? 47 What man is he that right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. 2 The Lord shall send the rod of thy power out of Sion: be thou ruler, even in the midst among thine enemies. 3 In the day of thy power shall the people offer thee freewill offerings with an holy worship: the dew of thy birth is of the womb of the morning. 4 The Lord sware, and will not repent: Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech. 5 The Lord upon thy right hand: shall wound even kings in the day of his wrath. 6 He shall judge among the heathen; he shall fill the places with the dead bodies: and smite in sunder the heads! over divers countries. 7 He shall drink of the brook in the way therefore shall he lift up his head. PSALM CXxxii. 2 How he sware unto the Lord and vowed a vow unto the Almighty God of Jacob; CHRISTMAS DAY. 10 For thy servant David's sake: turn not away the presence of thine Anointed. 11 The Lord hath made a faithful oath unto David: and he shall not shrink from it; 12 Of the fruit of thy body: shall I set upon thy seat. 13 If thy children will keep 19 As for his enemies, I shall clothe them with shame : but upon himself shall his crown flourish. First Lesson. ISAIAH vii. 10. MOR OREOVER the LORD MOREOVER saying, Ask thee a sign of the spake again unto Ahaz, LORD thy God; ask it either above. But Ahaz said, I will in the depth, or in the height not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary Lord himself shall give you a my God also? Therefore the sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and Butter and honey shall he eat, shall call his name Immanuel. that he may know to refuse For before the child shall know the evil, and choose the good. to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. Second Lesson. TITUS iii. 4. UT after that the kindness the kindness my covenant, and my testimo-B and love of God our SaBUT nies that I shall learn their children also shall sit upon thy seat for evermore. 14 For the Lord hath chosen Sion to be an habitation for himself he hath longed for her. 15 This shall be my rest for ever here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein. 16 I will bless her victuals with increase and will satisfy her poor with bread. 17 I will deck her priests with health and her saints shall rejoice and sing. 18 There shall I make the horn of David to flourish: I have ordained a lantern for mine Anointed. viour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. Saint Stephen's Day. MORNING. First Lesson. GENESIS iv. ND Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. Second Lesson. ACTS vi. A number of disciples ND in those days, when the was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the and caught him, and brought scribes, and came upon him, him to the council, and set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. EVENING. First Lesson. 2CHRON.xxiv. 15. UT Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house. Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them but they would not give And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it. Second Lesson. ACTS viii. Saint John the Evangelist's MORNING. First Lesson. EXODUS XXXiii.", A Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the ND it came to pass, as |