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31 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary.

32 Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.

33 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

34 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

35 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

36 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

LESSON XXV.

BLESS the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all his benefits:

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who rowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgement for all that are oppressed.

7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

9 He will not always chide : neither will he keep his anger for ever.

10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from

us.

13 The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;

14 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

15 The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

16 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

17 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

18 Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his domi. nion: bless the Lord, O my soul.

19 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.

20 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for 8 The Lord is merciful and the tree beareth her fruit, the

fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength.

21 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

22 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

23 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

SECTION VIII.-Forgivingness of God.

LESSON XXVI.

THUS saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

3 For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

4 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

5 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

6 Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.

7 Only acknowledge thine

iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God.

8 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

9 I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

10 For the iniquity of man's covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.

11 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him, and to his mourners.

12 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him.

13 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot

rest, whose waters cast up mire lawful and right, he shall surely

and dirt.

14 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

15 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judge

ments;

16 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

17 Then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

18 Nevertheless, my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

19 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

20 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them: return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return?

21 Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

22 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

23 Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.

24 If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is

live, he shall not die.

25 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live.

26 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God; and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

LESSON XXVII.

SEEK ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.

2 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

3 When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

4 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

5 I will be his father, and he shall be my son; if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men.

6 But my mercy shall not depart away from him.

7 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : though your sins be as scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

8 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

9 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

10 Remember these, (O Jacob and Israel,) for thou art my servant, I have formed thee: thou art my servant, O Israel; thou shalt not be forgotten of

me.

11 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

12 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

13 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

14 Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. 15 For now will I break thy yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.

16 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel :

17 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me, I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.

18 Thou calledst in trouble,

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and I delivered thee: I answered thee in the secret place of thunder.

LESSON XXVIII.

THUS saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength and ye would not.

2 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and we will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

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3 My people hath been lost sheep their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.

4 They shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them.

5 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

6 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

7 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely.

8 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them: and I will take

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16 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted:

17 Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling; thou shalt no more drink it again.

18 For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.

19 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

20 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

21 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee.

¶22 Oh thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

23. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

24 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children.

25 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou

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