VESPERS

And the Spirit of God came upon Balaam, and he took up his discourse, and said, “How fair are your houses, O Jacob, your tents, O Israel! Like shady groves, like gardens beside a river, like tents that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. A man shall chrome forth from his seed and will be lord over many nations, and his kingdom shall be exalted and increased. God led him out of Egypt; he has as it were the glory of the unicorn, he shall eat up the nations of his adversaries, and suck the marrow of their fat bones, and pierce the foe through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down like a lion, and like a young lion; who will rouse him? Blessed be every one who blesses you, and cursed be every one who curses you.” A star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a man shall rise out of Israel; and shall crush the princes of Moab, and plunder all the sons of Seth. Edom shall be an inheritance, Esau his foe shall be an inheritance, while Israel did valiantly.

93. The Reading is from Numbers.

In those days, says the Lord, I will gather her that is bruised, and her that has been driven out I will receive, and those whom I have driven out; and her that has been bruised I will make into a remnant; and her that has been cast out into a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Sion from this henceforth and for ever more. Thus says the Lord: And you Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, are not least among the thousands of Juda; for from you there will come forth for me the one who is to be ruler in Israel, and his goings out are from the beginning, from eternity. Because of this he will give them until the moment that she who bears child shall bring to birth; and the remainder of his brethren will return to the children of Israel. And he will stand and will see, and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, and they will abide in the glory of the name of the Lord his God; for now they will be magnified even to the extremities of the earth.

94. The Reading from the Prophecy of Micheas.

Thus says the Lord: There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow out of the root. And the Spirit of the Lord God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety. The spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill him. He shall not judge by glory nor reprove by hearsay; but he will give judgement for the lowly with justice, and reprove with equity the glorious ones of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall destroy the wicked. And he will have his loins girt with justice, and his sides clothed with truth. Then the wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the bull and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. The ox and the bear shall feed together; their young shall be together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. An infant child shall put its hand over the hole of asps, and the weaned child its hand on the nest of the offspring of asps. They shall not hurt or be able to destroy anyone on my holy mountain; for the whole earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as much water covers the sea. In that day there shall be the root of Jesse, and he that shall arise to rule nations; in him shall the nations hope, and his rest shall be honour.

95*.* The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias.

Daniel said to Nabuchodonosor, “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was lightening. The head of this image was of pure gold, its hands, breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out from a mountain by no human hand, and it smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces; then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever; just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy.”

96. The Reading is from the Prophecy of Daniel.

A child has been born for us, a son has been given to us; whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Angel of Great Counsel, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come.” For I will bring peace upon princes, peace and health to him. Great his government, and of his peace there is no bound, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgement and with justice from henceforth and for ever more. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

97. The Reading is from the Prophecy of Isaias.

The Reading is from the Third Book of Reigns.

for the dedication of a church

Solomon stood before the Altar of the Lord, in front of the whole Assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven and said, ‘Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below. If heaven and the highest heaven will not be adequate for you, how much less then this House which I have built in your name? And you, Lord God of Israel, will look upon my supplication, to hear the supplication and the prayer which your servant makes before you this day, that your eyes may be open to­wards this house day and night, towards this place of which you have said, “My name will be there”, to hearken to the prayer which your ser­vant makes at this place day and night. And you will hearken to the supplica­tion of your servant and of your people Israel, whatever they may pray for at this place, and you will hearken in the place of your habitation in heaven, and you will act be merciful to them.’