T For this Nation. ALMIGHTY God, who rulest over all the nations of the earth, and on whose gracious providence we depend evermore for preservation and prosperity; Extend, we beseech thee, thy paternal goodness to the people of this nation. Our necessities and dangers are all known to thee. Vouchsafe to guide us continually with thy counsel, and strengthen us with thy power; and so direct and sanctify our hearts, that, looking up to thee as our only safeguard and the supreme author of all blessings, we may have the unspeakable blessing of thy almighty protection and thy heavenly favor. Amen. ¶ For all Mankind. MOST gracious Father, let thy blessing rest on every member of thy great human family. May every one be a partaker of thy gospel in Jesus Christ. Grant that the bright beams of thy truth may shine upon those who are walking in darkness; till all the kindreds of thy people shall know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Amen. THE DIVINE LAW. The Minister, at such times as he may elect, shall read the Ten Commandments; and the People, reverently bowing the head or devoutly kneeling, shall, after each Commandment, ask God's mercy for their transgressions for the time past, and grace to keep the law for the time to come, as followeth: OD spake these words, and said, I am the Lord thy God: Thou shalt have none other gods but me. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Minister. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and show mercy unto thousands in them that love me, and keep my commandments. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Minister. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Minister. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work; thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Minister. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Minister. Thou shalt do no murder. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Minister. Thou shalt not commit adultery. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Minister. Thou shalt not steal. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Minister. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Minister. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these thy laws in our hearts, we beseech thee. ¶ Then the Minister may say : Hear also what our Lord Jesus Christ saith. HOU shalt love the Lord thy God with THOU all thy heart, and with all thy soul, aud with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. ¶ On Whit-Sunday the Minister shall also read the Law of the Holy Spirit, as follows: IF ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have |