Response 2. Lesson 3. Job x. 14-22. Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days? That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? Thou knowest that I am not wicked: and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand. I should utterly have fainted, but that I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. O tarry thou the Lord's leisure: be strong and He shall comfort thine heart, and put thou thy trust in the Lord. I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction; For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion; and again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me! Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me ! I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little. Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness. Response 3. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Antiphon. Antiphon. Antiphon. Psalm 25. (5) Antiphon. With thee is the well of life, And in thy light shall we see light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. NOCTURN II. He shall feed me. The Lord is my shepherd, &c. With Thee, &c. He shall feed me in a green pasture. Mine eyes are ever looking. Unto Thee, O Lord, will I lift up my soul. With Thee, &c. Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. Antiphon. (j) Verse and Response. The Lord's Prayer, Lesson 4. With Thee, &c. In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His tabernacle. Let the Saints be joyful with glory. Let them rejoice in their beds. Our Father, &c. Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee. Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid. Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me. How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy? Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble? For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth. Response 4. Lesson 5. Job xvi. 7--22. Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet. And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth-eaten. Comfort us again now after the time that thou hast plagued us, and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity. Show Thy servants Thy work, and their children Thy glory. For the years wherein we have suffered adversity. But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company. And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me : and my leanness rising up in me, beareth witness to my face. He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. They have gaped upon me with their mouth, they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully, they have gathered themselves together against me. God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant. I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust. My face is foul with weeping, and on my eye-lids is the shadow of death; Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure. O earth, cover thou not my blood, and let my cry have no place. Also, now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. Response 5. Lesson 6. Job xiv. 1-10. Response 6. Oh that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour! When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return. My God hath sent his Angel, and hath shut the lions' Forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me; Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. Turn from him that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day. For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon And the days of thy mourning shall be ended. For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light. Antiphon. Psalm 40. (7) Antiphon. Antiphon. Psalm 41. (8) Antiphon. Antiphon. Psalm 42. (9) (n) Verse and Response. The Lord's Prayer (privately.) Lesson 7. Job xvii. 11-16. Response 7. Lesson 8. NOCTURN III. He brought me out. I waited patiently, &c.-With Thee, &c. He brought me out of the horrible pit, out of the mire and clay. Heal my soul. Blessed is he, &c.-With Thee, &c. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee. Like as the hart, &c.-With Thee, &c. My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God? O deliver not the soul of Thy turtledove unto the multitude of the enemies. And forget not the congregation of the poor for ever. My days are passed, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart. They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness. If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister, And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Together with my dead body shall they come. My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for God hath touched me. Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? |