Daily Offices

Saturday April 27 - Morning
Saturday April 27 - Evening

How to pray the Daily Office using the New Zealand Prayerbook

A New Zealand Prayer Book Online Edition

2023-2024 Lectionary Year B [PDF]

Saturday April 27 - Morning

Recommended liturgies
pp89-92 or pp133-135

The readings are those set for Morning Prayer for April 27.

Psalm 34
Exodus 40:17-end
Luke 4:31-37
Collect

Psalm 34

¹ I will extol the Lord at all times;
 his praise will always be on my lips.
² I will glory in the Lord;
 let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
³ Glorify the Lord with me;
 let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
 he delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
 their faces are never covered with shame.
⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
 he saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
 and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good;
 blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
⁹ Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
 for those who fear him lack nothing.
¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
 but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
 I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Whoever of you loves life
 and desires to see many good days,
¹³ keep your tongue from evil
 and your lips from telling lies.
¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
 seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
 and his ears are attentive to their cry;
¹⁶ but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
 to blot out their name from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
 he delivers them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
 and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles,
 but the Lord delivers him from them all;
²⁰ he protects all his bones,
 not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;
 the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
²² The Lord will rescue his servants;
 no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever. Amen.

Exodus 40:17-end

¹⁷ So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. ¹⁸ When Moses set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames, inserted the crossbars and set up the posts. ¹⁹ Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, as the Lord commanded him.

²⁰ He took the tablets of the covenant law and placed them in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over it. ²¹ Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the Lord commanded him.

²² Moses placed the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain ²³ and set out the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.

²⁴ He placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle ²⁵ and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.

²⁶ Moses placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain ²⁷ and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commanded him.

²⁸ Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. ²⁹ He set the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings, as the Lord commanded him.

³⁰ He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, ³¹ and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. ³² They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³³ Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

³⁶ In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; ³⁷ but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. ³⁸ So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

Luke 4:31-37

³¹ Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.

³³ In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ³⁴ “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

³⁶ All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” ³⁷ And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

Collect

Good shepherd of the sheep,
by whom the lost are sought
and guided into the fold;
feed us and we shall be satisfied,
heal us and we shall be whole,
and lead us that we may be with you,
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
where you reign one God for ever.
Amen.

Saturday April 27 - Evening

Recommended liturgies
pp92-95 or pp135-137

The readings are those set for Evening Prayer for April 27.

Psalm 84
Deuteronomy 15:1-18
Ephesians 6:10-end
Collect

Psalm 84

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place,
 Lord Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints,
 for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
 for the living God.
³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
 and the swallow a nest for herself,
 where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
 Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
 they are ever praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
 whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
 they make it a place of springs;
 the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength,
 till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
 listen to me, God of Jacob.
⁹ Look on our shield, O God;
 look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
 than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
 than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
 the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
 from those whose walk is blameless.

¹² Lord Almighty,
 blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be for ever. Amen.

Deuteronomy 15:1-18

¹ At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. ² This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. ³ You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. ⁴ However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, ⁵ if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

⁷ If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. ⁸ Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. ¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

¹² If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free. ¹³ And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. ¹⁴ Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.

¹⁶ But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, ¹⁷ then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.

¹⁸ Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Ephesians 6:10-end

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

²¹ Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. ²² I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.

²³ Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Collect

Good shepherd of the sheep,
by whom the lost are sought
and guided into the fold;
feed us and we shall be satisfied,
heal us and we shall be whole,
and lead us that we may be with you,
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
where you reign one God for ever.
Amen.