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MORNING PRAYER.

First Lesson.

Numbers 22:36-23:26.

And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.

37  And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?
38  And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.
39  And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth.
40  And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.
41  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the people.
23  1  And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

2  And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
3  And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.
4  And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.
5  And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
6  And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7  And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
8  How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?
9  For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10  Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
11  And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
12  And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?
13  And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
14  And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
15  And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the Lord yonder.
16  And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
17  And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the Lord spoken?
18  And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
19  God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
20  Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
21  He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
22  God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
23  Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
24  Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
25  And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26  But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do?

Second Lesson.

Hebrews 7.

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

2  To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
3  Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
4  Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
5  And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
6  But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
7  And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.
8  And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
9  And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.
10  For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.
11  If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
13  For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
14  For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
15  And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
16  Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17  For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18  For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
19  For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
20  And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:
21  (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22  By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
23  And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
24  But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
25  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
26  For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27  Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
28  For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

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The schedule or “Lectionary” for the Psalms and Lessons used in this calendar follows the originally published 1928 Lectionary or Table of Lessons for the Church Year in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

Psalms used on this site are found in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Public Domain. Archival copies can be found at The Book of Common Prayer site.

Lessons are from The Authorized King James Bible. Public Domain.

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