Though, while he lived, he blessed his soul: (and men will praise thee when thou dost well to thyself:)

He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.

Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.

Thy tongue deviseth mischief, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness.

Thou lovest all-devouring words, thou deceitful tongue.

God shall likewise destroy thee for ever: he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling-place, and root thee out of the land of the living.

The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:

Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

But I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good.

BENEDICTION I.

0

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.

COLLECT.

LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and house

hold continually in thy true religion; that they, who do

lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace, may evermore be defended by thy mighty power, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PROPHECIES.

ISAIAH.

FOR Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.

Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken: neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah.†

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence;

And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath †The Wedded.

* My-delight-is-in-thee.

sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

To appoint unto them that mourn, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness: that they might be called Trees of Righteousness, The Planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen, and your vine-dressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our God:

For your shame you shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: everlasting joy shall be unto you.

For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burntoffering; and I will direct their work in truth; and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

All that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,

Be honor and glory, through Jesus Christ, for ever and ever.

PSALMS.

IN thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be put to confusion.

Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.

Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou rock and my fortress.

art my

Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth.

Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honor all the day.

Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.

For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,

Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.

O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.

I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and

more.

My mouth shall show forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.

I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.

O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.

When I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee?

Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

I will also praise thee, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing, O thou Holy One of Israel.

My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.

My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long.

O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed.

Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.

For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.

The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for

ever.

Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.