Proverbs 7:1-27
My child, keep my words and store up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live, keep my teachings as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend, that they may keep you from the loose woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words. For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, and I saw among the simple ones, I observed among the youths, a young man without sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. Then a woman comes toward him, decked out like a prostitute, wily of heart. She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, and at every corner she lies in wait. She seizes him and kisses him, and with impudent face she says to him: "I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows; so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you! I have decked my couch with coverings, colored spreads of Egyptian linen; I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with love. For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He took a bag of money with him; he will not come home until full moon." With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. Right away he follows her, and goes like an ox to the slaughter, or bounds like a stag toward the trap until an arrow pierces its entrails. He is like a bird rushing into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life. And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths. for many are those she has laid low, and numerous are her victims. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
1 John 5:13-21
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one-- to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal. We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them. We know that we are God's children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Matthew 11:25-30
At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Morning Psalms
Psalm 18 Part I Diligam te, Domine.
1 I love you, O LORD my strength, O LORD my stronghold, my crag, and my haven.
2 My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my refuge; you are worthy of praise.
3 I will call upon the LORD, and so shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 The breakers of death rolled over me, and the torrents of oblivion made me afraid.
5 The cords of hell entangled me, and the snares of death were set for me.
6 I called upon the LORD in my distress and cried out to my God for help.
7 He heard my voice from his heavenly dwelling; my cry of anguish came to his ears.
8 The earth reeled and rocked; the roots of the mountains shook; they reeled because of his anger.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils and a consuming fire out of his mouth; hot burning coals blazed forth from him.
10 He parted the heavens and came down with a storm cloud under his feet.
11 He mounted on cherubim and flew; he swooped on the wings of the wind.
12 He wrapped darkness about him; he made dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion.
13 From the brightness of his presence, through the clouds, burst hailstones and coals of fire.
14 The LORD thundered out of heaven; the Most High uttered his voice.
15 He loosed his arrows and scattered them; he hurled thunderbolts and routed them.
16 The beds of the seas were uncovered, and the foundations of the world laid bare, at your battle cry, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high and grasped me; he drew me out of great waters.
18 He delivered me from my strong enemies and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster; but the LORD was my support.
20 He brought me out into an open place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 18:Part II Et retribuet mihi
21 The LORD rewarded me because of my righteous dealing; because my hands were clean he rewarded me;
22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not offended against my God;
23 For all his judgments are before my eyes, and his decrees I have not put away from me;
24 For I have been blameless with him and have kept myself from iniquity;
25 Therefore the LORD rewarded me according to my righteous dealing, because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26 With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God; with the forthright you show yourself forthright.
27 With the pure you show yourself pure, but with the crooked you are wily.
28 You will save a lowly people, but you will humble the haughty eyes.
29 You, O LORD, are my lamp; my God, you make my darkness bright.
30 With you I will break down an enclosure; with the help of my God I will scale any wall.
31 As for God, his ways are perfect; the words of the LORD are tried in the fire; he is a shield to all who trust in him.
32 For who is God, but the LORD? who is the Rock, except our God?
33 It is God who girds me about with strength and makes my way secure.
34 He makes me sure-footed like a deer and lets me stand firm on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for battle and my arms for bending even a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me your shield of victory; your right hand also sustains me; your loving care makes me great.
37 You lengthen my stride beneath me, and my ankles do not give way.
38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them; I will not turn back till I have destroyed them.
39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise; they fall defeated at my feet.
40 You have girded me with strength for the battle; you have cast down my adversaries beneath me; you have put my enemies to flight.
41 I destroy those who hate me; they cry out, but there is none to help them; they cry to the LORD, but he does not answer.
42 I beat them small like dust before the wind; I trample them like mud in the streets.
43 You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; you put me at the head of the nations.
44 A people I have not known shall serve me; no sooner shall they hear than they shall obey me; strangers will cringe before me.
45 The foreign peoples will lose heart; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds.
46 The LORD lives! Blessed is my Rock! Exalted is the God of my salvation!
47 He is the God who gave me victory and cast down the peoples beneath me.
48 You rescued me from the fury of my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; you saved me from my deadly foe.
49 Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O LORD, and sing praises to your Name.
50 He multiplies the victories of his king; he shows loving-kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants for ever.
