Keep us, O God, from flattery and irreligion, from vicious compliances, and evil customs, and let not the reverence of any man cause us to sin against thee; keep us upright in our religion and worshippings of thee, and let no change of the world engage us in a state of life against our duty; for Jesus Christ's sake, our dearest Lord and Saviour.

V.

Keep us, O God, by thy holy Spirit of grace, from all the sins of idleness and intemperance, from injustice and sensuality, from the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, from the pride of life and vanity of spirit, from being careless of our duty or false in our trust, from breach of promise or reproachful language, from slandering or traducing any man, from false accusation and false witness, from faction and envy. Grant us thy grace, that we may be diligent in our business, just in our charges, provident of our time, watchful in our duty, careful of every word we speak. O make us to be pleased in the offices of religion, useful to those that employ us, dutiful to our superiors, loving to each other, conscientious in private, humble in public, patient in adversity, religious and thankful in prosperity.

VI.

O blessed God, take care of our souls, and of our bodies: keep us from sharp and tedious sicknesses; let us never fall into want or be unprovided for in our age, and forsake us not, O God, when we are grey-headed; grant us great measures of thy Spirit, that we may abstain from all appearances of evil, and from all occasions of it, and that we may take care to do whatsoever is honest and of good report; that having laid up a treasure of good works against the day of thy visitation, we may rejoice in the day of our death, and find mercy at the day of judgment, through the goodness of our God, and by the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

VII.

Bless and sanctify, defend and save, all Christian kings, princes, governors, and states; grant that all powers, civil and ecclesiastical, may join together in the promoting the honour of God and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus, and may

find the blessings of God, and the rewards of the Lord Jesus, in this world, and in the world to come. Give health and comfort, peace and holiness, long life and increase of grace, to the chiefest of this family [here name the relation]: grant that their portion may be in religion, and the love of God; keep them from all evil by the guard of angels, and lead them into all good by the conduct of thy good Spirit.

VIII.

In mercy and great compassion remember all them that are miserable and afflicted, persecuted or poor; that have lost their estates or lost their liberty, their health or their peace, their innocence or their hopes; restore them, O Lord, to all good, and to all useful comforts; and let not the enemy of mankind invade thy portion, or destroy any soul for whom thou hast paid the price of thy most precious blood. Hear us, O God, in mercy, and bless all our relations, and prosper all our labours, and sanctify all our intentions, and forgive us all our sins, and relieve all our necessities, and defend us from all dangers, and especially from our ownselves, from our evil habits, and foolish customs, from our weak principles and sad infirmities, from our evil concupiscence and vicious inclinations, from the power of the devil, and from thy wrath; and bring us in mercy and truth, in holiness and comfort, in labour and certainty, to a fruition of the glories of God, in the inheritance of our blessed Saviour. Grant this, O God our Father, for the merits and by the redemption and intercession of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communication of the Holy Spirit of God, be with us, defend and guide, sanctify and save us, and all our relatives, and all the servants of God, this day and for evermore, Amen.

A SHORT FORM OF EVENING PRAYER
FOR A FAMILY.

IN THE NAME OF OUR BLESSED LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS. OUR FATHER, &c.

The Hymn.

O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, thou hast set thy glory above the heavens !

When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained:

What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him!

For thou hast made him little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands and hast put all things under his feet;

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fishes of the sea.

O Lord, our Governor, how excellent is thy name in all the world!

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent: O Lord, my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

Show me thy ways, O Lord, teach me thy paths, lead me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art the God of my salvation, on thee do I wait all the day.

Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses for they have been ever of old.

:

Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgression according to thy mercy remember me, for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.

:

For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for

it is very great: O keep my soul and deliver me, let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in thee.

That which I see not, teach thou me: I have done iniquity, but I will do no more: for there is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings: but none saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night?

But I put my trust in thee, O Lord; I have said, Thou art my God.

Into thy hand I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.

I will lay me down in peace: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the beginning, &c.

Or this.

Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust; O soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

But to the saints which are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup thou maintainest my lot.

I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night-seasons.

I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell: neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption.

Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is the fulness of joy: at thy right hand there are pleasures for

evermore.

As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear in the presence of God?

The Lord will command his loving-kindness in the day

time, and in the night his song shall be with me; I will make my prayer unto the God of my life.

For thou art the God that doest wonders; thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night: nor for the arrow that flieth by day.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways; they shall bear thee in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

I will remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watch; for thou hast been my health, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.

He that is our God, is the God of salvation: and unto God the Lord belong the issues of death.

Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the beginning, &c.

The Lesson.

1 Thess. v. 2.

Yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, 'peace and safety,' then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child: and they shall not escape. But ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye all are children of the light and children of the day: we are not of the night or of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others: but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath; but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ: who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

Or read a chapter in the Sapiential books in order.