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were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the wicked, when I saw the ungodly in such prosperity. For they are in no distress; but are firm and strong.

They come in no misfortune like other men; neither are they afflicted like other men..

And this is the cause that they are so lifted up with pride, and filled with cruelty.

They are corrupt, and speak of wicked blasphemy; their talking is against the Most High.

For they set their mouth against the heaven, and their tongue goeth through the world.

Therefore his people fall into their hands, and water in full measure is wrung out of them.

For they say, How should God perceive it? Is there knowledge in the Most High?

Lo, these are the ungodly, these prosper in the world, and these have riches in possession; and I said, Then have I cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

For all the day long have I been smitten, and chastened every morning.

Yea, and I had almost said even as they; but lo, then I should have condemned the generation of thy children.

Then thought I to understand this; but it was too hard for me;

Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I the end of these men.

Truly thou dost set them in slippery places, and castest them down, and destroyest them.

O, how suddenly do they consume, perish, and come to a fearful end!

Yea, even like as a dream when one awaketh, so shalt thou destroy their splendour in thy wrath.

Thus my heart was grieved, and my thoughts were troubled.

So foolish was I, and ignorant, even as it were a beast before thee.

Nevertheless, I am alway with thee; for thou hast holden me by my right hand.

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and after that receive me to glory.

Whom have in heaven

but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.

My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

For lo, they who forsake thee shall perish; thou hast destroyed all those who follow after other gods.

But it is good for me to hold me fast by God, to put my trust in the Lord God, and to speak of all thy glorious works.

Now unto the King eternal, &c.

Be honour and glory, &c.

The Thirteenth Day. MORNING PRAYER.

PSALM 75.

UNTO thee, O God, do we give thanks; yea unto thee do we give thanks.

For that thy name is nigh, do thy wondrous works declare.

When the promised time cometh, I shall judge according unto right.

The land is weak, and all the inhabitants thereof;

I will bear up the pillars of it.

I said unto the fools, Deal not so madly; and to the ungodly, Boast not of your strength.

Boast not of your strength, and speak not with a stiff neck.

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the south.

And why? God is the Judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full mixed, and he poureth out of the same.

As for the dregs thereof, all the ungodly of the earth shall wring them out and drink them.

But I will magnify the God of Jacob, and praise him for ever.

PSALM 76.

IN Judah is God known; his name is great in Israel.

At Salem is his tabernacle, and his dwelling in Sion.

There broke he the arrows of the bow, the shield, the sword, and the battle.

Thou art of more honour and might, O Sion, than the hills of the robbers.

The proud are spoiled, they have slept their sleep; and all their strength availed them nothing.

At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are fallen.

Thou, even thou, art to be feared; and who may stand in thy sight when thou art angry?

Thou didst cause thy sentence to be heard from heaven; the earth trembled and was still,

When God arose to judgment, and to help all the meek upon earth.

The fierceness of man shall turn to thy praise; and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.

Promise unto the Lord your God, and keep it, all ye who are round about him; bring presents unto him who ought to be feared.

For he breaketh down the spirit of princes; he is terrible among the kings

of the earth.

Now unto the King eternal, &c.

Be honour and glory, &c.

EVENING PRAYER.

PSALM 77.

I WILL cry unto God with my voice, even unto God will I cry with my voice; and O that he would hearken unto me.

In the time of my trouble I sought the Lord; I stretched out my hands to him all the night long; my soul refused comfort.

When I am in heaviness, I will think upon God; when my heart is vexed, I will complain.

I consider the days of old, and remember the years that are past.

I call to remembrance my song in the night; I commune with mine own heart, and search out my spirit.

Will the Lord absent himself for ever? and will he be no more intreated?

Is his mercy clean gone for ever? and is his promise come utterly to an end for evermore?

Hath God forgotten to be gracious; and will he shut up his loving kindness în displeasure?

And I said, It is mine own infirmity; I will remember the years of the

right hand of the Most High.

I will remember the works of the Lord, and call to mind thy wonders of old time.

I will think also of all thy works, and my talk shall be of thy doings.

Thy way, O God, is holy; who is so great a God as our God?

Thou art the God who doest wonders, and hast declared thy power among the people.

Thou hast mightily delivered thy people, even the sons of Jacob and Joseph.

The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee, and were afraid; the depths also were troubled.

The clouds poured out water, the air thundered, and thine arrows went abroad..

The voice of thy thunder was heard round about; the lightnings shone upon the ground; the earth was moved and shook withal. Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.

Thou leddest thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron..

PSALM 82.

GOD has come up into the judgment seat; he rebuketh the judges of the earth.

How long will ye give wrong judgment, and accept the persons of the ungodly?

Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy.

Deliver the outcast and poor; save them from the hand of the ungodly.

They will not know nor understand, but walk on still in darkness; all the foundations of the land are disturbed.

I have said, Ye are gods ; and ye are all the children of the Most High.

But ye shall die like other men, and fall like tyrants.

Arise, O God, and judge thou the earth for thou 9 shalt take all nations to thine inheritance.

Now unto the King eternal, &c.

Be honour and glory, &c.

The Fourteenth Day. MORNING PRAYER

PSALM 84.

O HOW amiable are thy

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dwellings, thou Lord of hosts!

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

As the sparrow findeth an house, and the swallow a nest, where she may lay her young, so let me dwell at thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God. Blessed are they who dwell in thy house; they will be alway praising thee. Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are thy

ways.

For them the desert valley of Baka hath fountains; and they are refreshed with abundant showers.

They will go from strength to strength, till every one of them appeareth before God, in Sion.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; hearken, O God of Jacob.

Behold, O God our defender, and look upon the face of thine anointed.

For one day in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my

God, than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness.

For the Lord God is a light and defence; the Lord will give grace and glory; and no good thing shall he withhold from

those who live a godly life.

O Lord God of hosts, blessed is the man who

putteth his trust in thee.

PSALM 85.

LORD, thou art become gracious unto thy land; thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob.

Thou hast forgiven the offence of thy people, and covered all their sins.

Thou hast taken away all thy displeasure, and turned thyself from thy wrathful indignation.

Turn us then, O God our Saviour, and let thine anger cease from us.

Wilt thou be displeased at us for ever? and wilt thou stretch out thy wrath from one generation to another?

Wilt thou not turn again and quicken us, that thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord and grant us thy salvation.

I will hear what God the

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