The Standard Prayer Book: Evening Service for Weekdays and the Termination of the Sabbath

On Weekdays, if the Evening Service is read after nightfall, commence here. At the termination of the Sabbath say Psalms cxliv. and lxvii., p. 298, 299; then continue, "And he being merciful," p. 129. On Weekdays, if the Evening Service is read before nightfall, commence, "And he being merciful."

A Song of Degrees.—Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord in the night seasons. Lift up your hands towards the sanctuary, and bless ye the Lord. The Lord bless thee out of Zion; even he that made heaven and earth.

Reader.—Magnified and sanctified be his great name in the world which he hath created according to his will. May he establish his kingdom during your life and during your days,. and during the life of all the house of Israel, even speedily and at a near time, and say ye, Amen.

Cong. and Reader.—Let his great name be blessed for ever and to all eternity.

Reader.—Blessed, praised and glorified, exalted, extolled and honored, magnified and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be he; though he be high above all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations, which are uttered in the world; and say ye, Amen.

And he being merciful, forgiveth iniquity, and destroyeth not: yea, many a time he turneth his anger away, and doth not stir up all his wrath. Save, Lord may the King answer us on the day when we cal!.

Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted and extolled be the name of the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be he, who is the first and the last, and beside him there is no God. Extol ye him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him. His name is exalted above all blessing and praise. Blessed be His name, whose glorious kingdom is for ever and ever. Let the name of the Lord be blessed from this time forth and for evermore.

Cong. and Reader.—Blessed is the Lord who is to be blessed for ever and ever.

Blessed art thou, O. Lord our God, King of the universe, who at thy word bringest on the evening twilight, with wisdom openest the gates of the heavens, and with understanding changest times and variest the seasons, and arrangest the stars in their watches in the sky, according to thy will. Thou createst day and night; thou rollest away the light from before the darkness, and the darkness from before the light; thou makest the day to pass and the night to approach, and dividest the day from the night, the Lord of hosts is thy name; a God living and enduring continually, mayest thou reign over us for ever and ever. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who bringest on the evening twilight.

With everlasting love thou hast loved the house of Israel, thy people; a Law and commandments, statutes and judgments hast thou taught us. Therefore,

[paragraph continues] O Lord our God, when we lie down and when we rise up we will meditate on thy statutes: yea, we will rejoice in the words of thy Law and in thy commandments for ever; for they are our life and the length of our days, and we will meditate on them day and night. And mayest thou never take away thy love from us. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who lovest thy people Israel.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.

And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken. diligently unto my commandments, which T command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will give grass in thy field for thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be satisfied. Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon

your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, talking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid theirs that they make them a fringe upon the corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of each corner a cord of blue: and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go astray: that ye may remember

and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.

True and trustworthy is all this, and it is established with us that he is the Lord our God, and there is none beside him, and that We, Israel, are his people. It is he who redeemed us from the hand of kings, even our King, who delivered us from the grasp of all the terrible ones; the God, who on our behalf dealt out punishment to our adversaries, and requited all the enemies of our soul; who doeth great things past finding out, yea, and wonders without number; who holdeth our soul in life, and hath not suffered our feet to be moved; who made us tread upon the high places of our enemies, and exalted our horn over all them that hated us; who wrought for us miracles and vengeance upon Pharaoh, signs and wonders in the land of the children of Ham; who in his wrath smote all the first-born of Egypt, and brought forth his people Israel from among them to

everlasting freedom; who made his children pass between the divisions of the Red Sea, hilt sank their pursuers and their enemies in the depths. Then his children beheld his might. they praised and gave thanks unto his name and willingly accepted his sovereignty. Moses and the children of Israel sang a song unto thee with great joy, saying, all of them,

Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the mighty ones? Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, revered in praises, doing wonders?

Thy children beheld thy sovereign power, as thou didst cleave the sea before Moses: they exclaimed, This is my God! and said, The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.

Cause us, O Lord our God, to lie down in peace, and raise us up, O our King, unto life. Spread over us the tabernacle of thy peace; direct us aright through thine own good counsel; save us for thy name's sake; be thou a shield about us; remove from us every enemy, pestilence, sword, famine and sorrow; remove also the adversary from before us and from behind us. O shelter us beneath the shadow of thy wings;

for thou, O God, art our Guardian and our Deliverer; yea, thou, O God, art a gracious and merciful King; and guard our going out and our coming in unto life and unto peace from this time forth and for evermore. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who guardest thy people Israel for ever.

Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen and Amen. Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, who dwelleth in Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone doeth wondrous things: and blessed be his glorious name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. Let the glory of the Lord endure for ever; let the Lord rejoice in his works. Let the name of the Lord be blessed from this time forth and for evermore. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake; because it hath pleased him to make you a people unto himself. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall the Lord be One, and his name

[paragraph continues] One. Let thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped for thee. Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us and deliver us from the nations, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and they shall glorify thy name: for thou art great and doest marvellous things; thou art God alone. But we are thy people and the sheep of thy pasture; we will give thanks unto thee for ever: we will recount thy praise to all generations.

Blessed be the Lord by day; blessed be the Lord by night; blessed be the Lord when we lie down; blessed be the Lord when we rise up. For in thy hand are the souls of the living and the dead, as it is said, In his hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all human flesh. Into thy hand I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. Our God who art in heaven, assert the unity of thy name, and establish thy kingdom continually, and reign over us for ever and ever.

May our eyes behold, our hearts rejoice, and our souls be glad in thy true salvation, when it

shall be said unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. The Lord reigneth; the Lord hath reigned; the Lord shall reign for ever and ever: for the kingdom is thine, and to everlasting thou wilt reign in glory; for we have no king but thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the King, who constantly in his glory will reign over us and over all his works for ever and ever.

Reader.—Magnified and sanctified be his great name in the world which he hath created according to his will. May he establish his kingdom during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, even speedily and at a near time, and say ye, Amen.

The following prayer (Amidah) to "as in ancient years," p. 148, is to be said standing.

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac,

and God of Jacob, the great, mighty and revered God, the most high God, who bestowest lovingkindnesses, and possessest all things; who rememberest the pious deeds of the patriarchs, and in love wilt bring a redeemer to their children's children for thy name's sake.

Remember us unto life, O King, who delightest in life, and inscribe us in the book of life, for thine own sake, O living God.

O King, Helper, Savior and Shield. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the Shield of Abraham.

Thou, O Lord, art mighty for ever, thou quickenest the dead, thou art mighty to save.

From the Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly until the First Day of Passover say:—

Thou sustainest the living with lovingkindness, quickenest the dead with great mercy, supportest the falling, healest the sick, loosest the bound, and keepest thy faith to them that sleep

in the dust. Who is like unto thee, Lord of mighty acts, and who resembleth thee, O King, who killest and quickenest, and causest salvation to spring forth?

Who is like unto thee, Father of mercy, who in mercy rememberest thy creatures unto life?

Yea, faithful art thou to quicken the dead. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead.

Thou art holy, and thy name is holy, and holy beings praise thee daily. (Selah.) Blessed art thou, O Lord, the holy God.

Thou hast favored us with a knowledge of thy Law, and hast taught us to perform the statutes of thy will. Thou hast made a distinction, O Lord our God, between holy and profane, between light and darkness, between Israel and other nations, between the seventh day and the six working days. O our Father, our King, grant that the days which are approaching us may begin for us in peace, and that we may be withheld from all sin and cleansed from all iniquity, and cleave to the fear of thee

O favor us with knowledge, understanding and discernment from thee. Blessed art thou. O Lord, gracious Giver of knowledge.

Cause us to return, O our Father, unto thy Law; draw us near, O our King, unto thy service, and bring us back in perfect repentance unto thy presence. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who delightest in repentance.

Forgive us, O our Father, for we have sinned; pardon us, O our King, for we have transgressed; for thou dost pardon and forgive. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who art gracious, and dost abundantly forgive.

Look upon our affliction and plead our cause, and redeem us speedily for thy name's sake; for thou art a mighty Redeemer. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the Redeemer of Israel.

Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed; save us and we shall be saved; for thou art our praise. Vouchsafe a perfect healing to all our wounds; for thou, almighty King, art a faithful and merciful Physician. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who healest the sick of thy people Israel.

Bless this year unto us, O Lord our God, together with every kind of the produce thereof, for our welfare; give a blessing

upon the face of the earth. O satisfy us with thy goodness, and bless our year like other good years. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who blessest the years.

Sound the great horn for our freedom; lift up the ensign to gather our exiles, and gather us from the four corners of the earth. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who gatherest the banished ones of thy people Israel.

Restore our judges as at the first, and our counsellors as at the beginning; remove from us grief and suffering; reign thou over us, O Lord, thou alone, in lovingkindness and tender mercy,

and justify us in judgment. Blessed art thou O Lord, the King who lovest righteousness and judgment.

And for slanderers let there be no hope, and let all wickedness perish as in a moment; let all thine enemies be speedily cut off, and the dominion of arrogance do thou uproot and crush, cast down and humble speedily in our days. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who breakest the enemies and humblest the arrogant.

Towards the righteous and the pious, towards the elders of thy people the house of Israel, towards the remnant of their scribes, towards the proselytes of righteousness, and towards us also may thy tender mercies be stirred, O Lord our God; grant a good reward unto all who faithfully trust in thy name; set our portion with them for ever, so that we may not be put to shame; for we have trusted in thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the stay and trust of the righteous.

And to Jerusalem, thy city, return in mercy, and dwell therein as thou hast spoken; rebuild it soon in our days as an everlasting building, and speedily set up therein the throne of David. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who rebuildest Jerusalem.

Speedily cause the offspring of David, thy servant, to flourish, and let his horn be exalted by thy salvation, because we wait for thy salvation all the day. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who causest the horn of salvation to flourish.

Hear our voice, O Lord our God; spare us and have mercy upon us, and accept our prayer in mercy and favor; for thou art a God who hearkenest unto prayers and supplications: from thy presence, O our King, turn us not empty away; for thou hearkenest in mercy to the prayer of thy people Israel. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hearkenest unto prayer.

Accept, O Lord our God, thy people Israel and their prayer; restore the service to the oracle of thy house; receive in love and favor both the fire-offerings of Israel and their prayer; and may the service of thy people Israel be ever acceptable unto thee.

On New Moon and the Intermediate Days of Passover and Tabernacles the following is added:—

Our God and God of our fathers! May our remembrance rise, come and be accepted before thee, with the remembrance of our fathers, of Messiah the son of David thy servant, of Jerusalem thy holy city, and of all thy people the house of Israel, bringing deliverance and well-being, grace, lovingkindness and mercy, life and peace on this day of

[paragraph continues] Remember us, O Lord our God, thereon for our wellbeing; be mindful of us for blessing, and save us unto life: by thy promise of salvation and mercy, spare us and be gracious unto us; have mercy upon us and save us; for our eyes are bent upon thee, because thou art a gracious and merciful God and King.

And let our eyes behold thy return in mercy to Zion. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who restorest thy divine presence unto Zion.

We give thanks unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God and the God of our fathers for ever and ever; thou art the Rock of our lives, the Shield of our salvation through every generation. We will give thanks unto thee and declare thy praise for our lives which are committed unto thy hand, and for our souls which are in thy charge, and for thy miracles, which are daily with us, and for thy wonders and thy benefits, which are wrought at all times, evening, morn and noon. O thou who art all-good, whose mercies fail not; thou, merciful Being, whose lovingkindnesses never cease, we have ever hoped in thee.

For all these things thy name, O our King, shall be continually blessed and exalted for ever and ever.

And everything that liveth shall give thanks unto thee for ever, and shall praise thy name in truth, O God, our salvation and our help. Blessed art thou, O Lord, whose name is All-good, and unto whom it is becoming to give thanks.

Grant abundant peace unto Israel thy people for ever; for thou art the sovereign Lord of all peace; and may it be good in thy sight to bless thy people Israel at all times and in every hour with thy peace

In the book of life, blessing, peace and good sustenance may we be remembered and inscribed before thee, we and all thy people the house of Israel, for a happy life and for peace. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who makest peace.

O my God! guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking guile; and to such as curse me let my soul be dumb, yea, let my soul be unto all as the dust. Open my heart to thy Law, and let my soul pursue thy commandments. If any design evil against me, speedily make their counsel of none effect, and frustrate their designs. Do it for the sake of thy name, do it for the sake of thy right hand, do it for the sake of thy holiness, do it for the sake of thy Law. In order that thy beloved ones may be delivered, O save with thy right hand, and answer me. Let the words of my mouth and

the meditation of my heart be acceptable before thee, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. He who maketh peace in his high places, may he make peace for us and for all Israel, and say ye, Amen.

May it be thy will, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, that the temple be speedily rebuilt in our days, and grant our portion in thy Law. And there we will serve thee with awe, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.

Cong. and Reader.—Let his great name be blessed for ever and to all eternity.

Reader.—May the prayers and supplications of all Israel be accepted by their Father who is in heaven; and say ye, Amen.

Reader.—May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life for us and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen.

Reader.—He who maketh peace in his high places, may he make peace for us and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen.

It is our duty to praise the Lord of all things, to ascribe greatness to him who formed the world in the beginning, since he hath not made us like the nations of other lands, and hath not placed us like other families of the earth, since he hath not assigned unto us a portion as unto them, nor a lot as unto all their multitude. For we bend the knee and offer worship and thanks before the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be he, who stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, the seat of whose glory is in the heavens above, and the abode of whose might is in the loftiest heights. He is our God; there is none else: in truth he is our King; there is none besides him; as it is written in his Law, And thou shalt know this day, and lay it to thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

We therefore hope in thee, O Lord our God, that we may speedily behold the glory of thy might, when thou wilt remove the abominations from the earth and the idols will be utterly cut off, when the world will be perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty and all the children of flesh will call upon thy name, then thou wilt turn unto thyself all the wicked of le earth. Let all the inhabitants of the world perceive and know

that unto thee every knee must bow, every tongue must swear. Before thee, O Lord our God, let them bow and fall; and unto thy glorious name let them give honor; let them all accept the yoke of thy kingdom, and do thou reign over them speedily, and for ever and ever. For the kingdom is thine, and to all eternity thou wilt reign in glory; as it is written in thy Law, The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. And it is said, And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall the Lord be One, and his name One.

Mourner.—Magnified and sanctified be his great name in the world which he hath created according to his will. May he establish his kingdom during your life and during your days, and during the life of all the house of Israel, even speedily and at a near time, and say ye, Amen.

Cong. and Mourner.—Let his great name be blessed for ever and to all eternity.

Mourner.—Blessed, praised and glorified, exalted, extolled and honored, magnified and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be he;, though he be high above all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations, which are uttered in the world; and say ye, Amen.

Cong.—Let the name of the Lord be blessed from this time forth and for evermore.

Mourner.—May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life for us and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen.

Mourner.—He who maketh peace in his high places, may he make peace for us and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen.

EVENING SERVICE FOR WEEKDAYS AND THE TERMINATION OF THE SABBATH

Footnotes