Page images
PDF
EPUB

strength let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

Solomon's Blessing, after the dedication of the Temple, 1 Kings, 8.

:

Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require; that all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.

Let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

The Prayer of Mordocheus, Esther, 13. (Apocrypha.)

O Lord, Lord, the King Almighty: the whole world is in thy power, and if thou hast appointed to save Israel, there is no man can gainsay thee for thou hast made heaven and earth, and all the wondrous things under the heaven. Thou art Lord of all things, and there is no man that can resist thee, which art the Lord. Thou knowest all things, and thou knowest, Lord, that it was neither in contempt nor pride, nor for any desire of glory, that I did not bow down to proud Aman. For I could have been content with good will for the salvation of Israel to kiss the soles of his feet. But I did this, that I might not prefer the glory of man above the glory of God; neither will I worship any but thee, O God, neither will I do it in pride.

And now, O

Lord God and King, spare thy people for their eyes are upon us to bring us to nought; yea, they desire to destroy the inheritance, that hath

been thine from the beginning. Despise not the portion, which thou hast delivered out of Egypt for thine own self. Hear my prayer, and be merciful unto thine inheritance: turn our sorrow into joy, that we may live, O Lord, and praise thy name and destroy not the mouths of them that praise thee, O Lord.

Selected from 2 Esdras, ch. 8.

O Lord, thou that dwellest in everlastingness, which beholdest from above things in the heaven and in the air; whose throne is inestimable; whose glory may not be comprehended; before whom the hosts of angels stand with trembling; whose service is conversant in wind and fire; whose word is true, and sayings constant; whose commandment is strong, and ordinance fearful; whose look drieth up the depths, and indignation maketh the mountains to melt away; which the truth witnesseth: O hear the prayers of thy servant, and give ear to the petition of thy creature. For while I live I will speak, and so long as I have understanding I will answer. O look not upon the sins of thy people; but on them which serve thee in truth. Regard not the

[blocks in formation]

wicked inventions of the heathen, but the desire of those that keep thy testimonies in afflictions. Think not upon those that have walked feignedly before thee: but remember them, which according to thy will have known thy fear. Be not wroth with us, but spare thy people, and have mercy upon thine own inheritance: for thou art merciful unto thy creature.

The Prayer of Ezra, Ezra, 9.

O my God! I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass untò this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword,, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our

God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this: should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? O Lord God of Israel, thou

« PreviousContinue »