Office of the Dead

Ant. I will walk * before the Lord in the land of the living.

O come, let us sing unto the Lord:

let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving:

and shew ourselves glad in him with Psalms.

For the Lord is a great God:

and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are all the corners of the earth:

and the strength of the hills is his also.

The sea is his, and he made it:

and his hands prepared the dry land.

O come, let us worship, and fall down:

and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is the Lord our God:

and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts:

as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness;

When your fathers tempted me:

proved me, and saw my works.

Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said:

It is a people that do err in their heart, for they have not known my ways.

Unto whom I sware in my wrath:

that they should not enter into my rest.

Ant. I will walk * before the Lord in the land of the living.

Ant. Make thy way plain, * O Lord, before my face.

Ponder my words, O Lord:

consider my meditation.

O hearken thou unto the voice of my calling, my King, and my God:

for unto thee will I make my prayer.

My voice shalt thou hear betimes, O Lord:

early in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

For thou art the God that hast no pleasure in wickedness:

neither shall any evil dwell with thee.

Such as be foolish shall not stand in thy sight:

for thou hatest all them that work vanity.

Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing:

the Lord will abhor both the blood-thirsty and deceitful man.

But as for me, I will come into thine house, even upon the multitude of thy mercy:

and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, because of mine enemies:

make thy way plain before my face.

For there is no faithfulness in his mouth:

their inward parts are very wickedness.

Their throat is an open sepulchre:

they flatter with their tongue.

Destroy thou them, O God; let them perish through their own imaginations:

cast them out in the multitude of their ungodliness; for they have rebelled against thee.

And let all them that put their trust in thee rejoice:

they shall ever be giving of thanks, because thou defendest them; they that love thy Name shall be joyful in thee;

For thou, Lord, wilt give thy blessing unto the righteous:

and with thy favourable kindness wilt thou defend him as with a shield.

Ant. Make thy way plain, * O Lord, before my face.

Ant. Turn thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul, * for in death no man remembereth thee.

O Lord, rebuke me not in thine indignation:

neither chasten me in thy displeasure.

Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak:

O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed.

My soul also is sore troubled:

but, Lord, how long wilt thou punish me?

Turn thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul:

O save me for thy mercy's sake.

For in death no man remembereth thee:

and who will give thee thanks in the pit?

I am weary of my groaning; every night wash I my bed:

and water my couch with my tears.

My beauty is gone for very trouble:

and worn away because of all mine enemies.

Away from me, all ye that work vanity:

for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.

The Lord hath heard my petition:

the Lord will receive my prayer.

All mine enemies shall be confounded, and sore vexed:

they shall be turned back, and put to shame suddenly.

Ant. Turn thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul, * for in death no man remembereth thee.

Ant. Lest he devour my soul * like a lion, and tear it in pieces, while there is none to help.

O Lord my God, in thee have I put my trust:

save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me;

Lest he devour my soul, like a lion, and tear it in pieces:

while there is none to help.

O Lord my God, if I have done any such thing:

or if there be any wickedness in my hands;

If I have rewarded evil unto him that dealt friendly with me:

yea, I have delivered him that without any cause is mine enemy,

Then let mine enemy persecute my soul, and take me:

yea, let him tread my life down upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust.

Stand up, O Lord, in thy wrath, and lift up thyself, because of the indignation of mine enemies:

arise up for me in the judgement that thou hast commanded.

And so shall the congregation of the people come about thee:

for their sakes therefore lift up thyself again.

The Lord shall judge the people; give sentence with me, O Lord:

according to my righteousness, and according to the innocency that is in me.

O let the wickedness of the ungodly come to an end:

but guide thou the just.

For the righteous God:

trieth the very hearts and reins.

My help cometh of God:

who preserveth them that are true of heart.

God is a righteous Judge, strong and patient:

and God is provoked ev'ry day.

If a man will not turn, he will whet his sword:

he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

He hath prepared for him the instruments of death:

he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

Behold, he travaileth with mischief:

he hath conceived sorrow, and brought forth ungodliness.

He hath graven and digged up a pit:

and is fallen on himself into the destruction that he made for other.

For his travail shall come upon his own head:

and his wickedness shall fall on his own pate.

I will give thanks unto the Lord, according to his righteousness:

and I will praise the Name of the Lord most High.

Ant. Lest he devour my soul * like a lion, and tear it in pieces, while there is none to help.

Ant. From the gate of hell * deliver my soul, O Lord.

I said: in the cutting off of my days:

I shall go to the gates of the grave.

I am deprived of the residue of my years:

I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living.

I shall behold man no more:

with the inhabitants of the world.

Mine age is departed:

and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent.

I have cut off like a weaver my life:

he will cut me off with pining sickness.

From day even to night:

wilt thou make an end of me.

I reckoned till morning that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones:

from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter:

I did mourn as a dove.

Mine eyes fail with looking upward:

O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it:

I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit:

so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption:

for thou hast cast all my sins behind my back.

For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee:

they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day:

the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

The Lord was ready to save me:

therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.

Ant. From the gate of hell * deliver my soul, O Lord.

Ant. I am * the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.

Blessed ✠ be the Lord God of Israel:

for he hath visited and redeemed his people;

And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us:

in the house of his servant David;

As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets:

which have been since the world began;

That we should be saved from our enemies:

and from the hands of all that hate us.

To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers:

and to remember his holy covenant;

To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham:

that he would give us;

That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies:

might serve him without fear;

In holiness and righteousness before him:

all the days of our life.

And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest:

for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

To give knowledge of salvation unto his people:

for the remission of their sins,

Through the tender mercy of our God:

whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us;

To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death:

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Ant. I am * the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord:

Lord, hear my voice.

O let thine ears consider well:

the voice of my complaint.

If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss:

O Lord, who may abide it?

For there is mercy with thee:

therefore shalt thou be feared.

I look for the Lord; my soul doth wait for him:

in his word is my trust.

My soul fleeth unto the Lord:

before the morning watch, I say, before the morning watch.

O Israel, trust in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy:

and with him is plenteous redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel:

from all his sins.

Let us pray.

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all them that believe: grant unto the souls of thy servants and handmaids the remission of their sins; that as they have ever desired thy merciful pardon, so by the supplications of their brethren they may receive the same; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Ant. Lest he devour my soul * like a lion, and tear it in pieces, while there is none to help.

I am well pleased:

that the Lord hath heard the voice of my prayer.

That he hath inclined his ear unto me:

therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

The snares of death compassed me round about:

and the pains of hell gat hold upon me.

I shall find trouble and heaviness, and I will call upon the Name of the Lord:

O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous:

yea, our God is merciful.

The Lord preserveth the simple:

I was in misery, and he helped me.

Turn again then unto thy rest, O my soul:

for the Lord hath rewarded thee.

And why? thou hast delivered my soul from death:

mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

I will walk before the Lord:

in the land of the living.

I believed, and therefore will I speak; but I was sore troubled:

I said in my haste, All men are liars.

What reward shall I give unto the Lord:

for all the benefits that he hath done unto me?

I will receive the cup of salvation:

and call upon the Name of the Lord.

I will pay my vows now in the presence of all his people:

right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Behold, O Lord, how that I am thy servant:

I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast broken my bonds in sunder.

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving:

and will call upon the Name of the Lord.

I will pay my vows unto the Lord, in the sight of all his people:

in the courts of the Lord's house, even in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.

Ant. Lest he devour my soul * like a lion, and tear it in pieces, while there is none to help.

Ant. Woe is me, O Lord, * that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech.

When I was in trouble I called upon the Lord:

and he heard me.

Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips:

and from a deceitful tongue.

What reward shall be given or done unto thee, thou false tongue:

even mighty and sharp arrows, with hot burning coals.

Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech:

and to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar.

My soul hath long dwelt among them:

that are enemies unto peace.

I labour for peace, but when I speak unto them thereof:

they make them ready to battle.

Ant. Woe is me, O Lord, * that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech.

Ant. The Lord shall preserve thee * from all evil: yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills:

from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh even from the Lord:

who hath made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:

and he that keepeth thee will not sleep.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel:

shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord himself is thy keeper:

the Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand;

So that the sun shall not burn thee by day:

neither the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:

yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.

The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in:

from this time forth for evermore.

Ant. The Lord shall preserve thee * from all evil: yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.

Ant. If what is done amiss * thou wilt be extreme to mark, O Lord: O Lord, who may abide it?

Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord:

Lord, hear my voice.

O let thine ears consider well:

the voice of my complaint.

If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss:

O Lord, who may abide it?

For there is mercy with thee:

therefore shalt thou be feared.

I look for the Lord; my soul doth wait for him:

in his word is my trust.

My soul fleeth unto the Lord:

before the morning watch, I say, before the morning watch.

O Israel, trust in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy:

and with him is plenteous redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel:

from all his sins.

Ant. If what is done amiss * thou wilt be extreme to mark, O Lord: O Lord, who may abide it?

Ant. Despise not, * O Lord, the works of thine own hands.

I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, with my whole heart:

even before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy Name, because of thy loving kindness and truth:

for thou hast magnified thy Name and thy word above all things.

When I called upon thee, thou heardest me:

and enduedst my soul with much strength.

All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord:

for they have heard the words of thy mouth.

Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord:

that great is the glory of the Lord.

For though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly:

as for the proud, he beholdeth them afar off.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet shalt thou refresh me:

thou shalt stretch forth thy hand upon the furiousness of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

The Lord shall make good his loving kindness toward me:

yea, thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever; despise not then the works of thine own hands.

Ant. Despise not, * O Lord, the works of thine own hands.

Ant. All * that the Father hath given me shall come to me: and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.

My ✠ soul doth magnify the Lord:

and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded:

the lowliness of his handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth:

all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath magnified me:

and holy is his Name.

And his mercy is on them that fear him:

throughout all generations.

He hath showed strength with his arm:

he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat:

and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things:

and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel:

as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

Ant. All * that the Father hath given me shall come to me: and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.

Lord, ✠ now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace:

according to thy word.

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles:

and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Praise the Lord, O my soul; while I live will I praise the Lord:

yea, as long as I have any being, I will sing praises unto my God.

O put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man:

for there is no help in them.

For when the breath of man goeth forth he shall turn again to his earth:

and then all his thoughts perish.

Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help:

and whose hope is in the Lord his God;

Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is:

who keepeth his promise for ever;

Who helpeth them to right that suffer wrong:

who feedeth the hungry.

The Lord looseth men out of prison:

the Lord giveth sight to the blind.

The Lord helpeth them that are fallen:

the Lord careth for the righteous.

The Lord careth for the strangers, he defendeth the fatherless and widow:

as for the way of the ungodly, he turneth it upside down.

The Lord thy God, O Sion, shall be King for evermore:

and throughout all generations.

Let us pray.

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all them that believe: grant unto the souls of thy servants and handmaids the remission of their sins; that as they have ever desired thy merciful pardon, so by the supplications of their brethren they may receive the same; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.