is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto My Name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts, and one shall take you away with it. And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear, wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with Me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.

For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept My ways, but have been partial in the law a.

a Mal. ii. 1-9.

Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered ".

The priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? None evil can come upon Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field; and Jerusalem shall become heaps; and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

us.

Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds, Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves: should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool; ye kill them that are fed, but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened; neither have ye healed that which was sick; neither have bound up ye that which was broken; neither have ye

b Jer. x. 19-21.

e Mic. iii. 11, 12.

brought again that which was driven away; neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them d.

Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord".

Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more.

Woe to the idle shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened &

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy, and scatter the sheep of My pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, against the pastors that feed My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord ".

For both prophet and priest are prophane; yea, in My house have I found their wicked

d Ezek. xxxiv. 2-4.

Ibid. ver. 10. * Zech. xi. 17.

e Ibid. ver. 7.

h Jer. xxiii. 1, 2.

ness, saith the Lord. Wherefore, their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord'.

Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts concerning the prophets; Behold I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall*.

Behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord'.

Behold I, even I will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you",

And cast you out of my presence; And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten ".

God be merciful to me a sinner!

Our Father, Which art in Heaven &c.

Prayer for the faithful and successful discharge of the duties of the ministry.

ALMIGHTY God, the giver of every good gift, Who hast appointed divers orders of ministers

Ibid. ver. 30.

'Jer. xxiii. 11, 12.
m Ibid. ver. 39.

* Ibid.

ver. 15.

n Ibid. 39, 40.

in Thy church, mercifully look upon me, Thy most unworthy servant, whom of Thy divine providence Thou hast called to the holy office of the priesthood; and vouchsafe me, I beseech Thee, all those gifts and graces of Thy Holy Spirit, which may enable me to perform the duties of my important calling, and to discharge aright the great trust committed to me in it.

Give me, O Lord, the spirit of knowledge and understanding; that I may be apt to teach, and skilful to direct and bring up all those, who are under my care, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Give me the spirit of wisdom and counsel; that I may instruct with meekness, admonish with prudence, rebuke with authority, and minister suitable assistance to their several necessities.

Lord, make me diligent and industrious in all parts of my sacred function; that I may give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine; that I may meditate on these things, and give myself wholly to them. Possess my mind with a just and tender regard for those precious souls committed to my charge; that I may watch over them with a faithful and true heart, as one that must give an account; that I may do it with joy, and not with grief.

And because the form of knowledge, and of