[Ant 1]
Consider, O Lord, how that the city that was full with grace became desolate * she sedeth in great grief, there is none to comfort her: but you Lord, our God

[Versum 1]
V. Let the evening prayer ascend unto thee, O Lord.
R. And let there descend upon us thy mercy.

[Lectio1]
Lesson from the book of Ezekiel
!Ezek 21:1-5
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and let thy speech flow towards the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel:
3 And say to the land of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off in thee the just, and the wicked.
4 And forasmuch as I have cut off in thee the just, and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh, from the south even to the north.
5 That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn my sword out of its sheath not to be turned back.

[Responsory1]
@Tempora/Pent01-0:Responsory1

[Lectio2]
!Ezek 21:6-11
6 And thou, son of man, mourn with the breaking of thy loins, and with bitterness sigh before them. 
7 And when they shall say to thee: Why mournest thou? thou shalt say: For that which I hear: because it cometh, and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be made feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and water shall run down every knee: behold it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord God. 
8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 
9 Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Say: The sword, the sword is sharpened, and furbished. 
10 It is sharpened to kill victims: it is furbished that it may glitter: thou removest the sceptre of my son, thou hast cut down every tree.
11 And I have given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, that it may be in the hand of the slayer. 

[Responsory2]
@Tempora/111-0:Responsory2

[Lectio3]
!Ezek 21:12-15
12 Cry, and howl, O son of man, for this sword is upon my people, it is upon all the princes of Israel, that are fled: they are delivered up to the sword with my people, strike therefore upon thy thigh, 
13 Because it is tried: and that when it shall overthrow the sceptre, and it shall not be, saith the Lord God. 
14 Thou therefore, O son of man, prophesy, and strike thy hands together, and let the sword be doubled, and let the sword of the slain be tripled: this is the sword of a great slaughter, that maketh them stand amazed, 
15 And languish in heart, and that multiplieth ruins. In all their gates I have set the dread of the sharp sword, the sword that is furbished to glitter, that is made ready for slaughter. 

[Responsory3]
@Tempora/111-0:Responsory3

[Lectio4]
From the Exposition of the Prophet Ezekiel, written by St Jerome, Priest (at Bethlehem.)
!Bk. vii. on Ez. xxi.
In the foregoing chapter it is written Son of man, set thy face toward the way of Theman, and drop thy word toward Darom, and prophesy against the forest of the field of Nageb. And say to the forest of Nageb Hear the word of the Lord Thus saith the Lord God Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from Negab to Tsaphon shall be burned therein. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it it shall not be quenched. Then said I Ah, Lord God they say of me, Doth he not speak parables? (xx. 46-49.) But now, as the people asked for something clearer, the Lord doth speak more openly that which He had uttered in what is diversely called metaphor, parable, or proverb He showeth how that the forest of the field of Nageb, and Darom, and Theman, are figures of Jerusalem, and the Temple, and the Holy-of-Holies, and of all the land of Judah, and that by the flaming fire which should devour the forest, was to be understood that sword, which should be drawn out of the sheath, and should cut off from the land of Israel the righteous and the wicked. The righteous and the wicked are figured by the green tree and the dry tree. Whence also the Lord saith If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in a dry? (Luke xxiii. 31.)

[Responsory4]
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[Lectio5]
The first time He had said: Set thy face toward the South, and drop thy word toward the South wind, and prophesy against the forest of the South. But forasmuch as this seemed dark, and the people knew not what the Prophet said, it is a second time stated more clearly that the forest of the South is Jerusalem and all its unfruitful trees, unto whose roots the axe is being laid, are to be understood as figures of her inhabitants and the fire to be kindled in it, to be interpreted the sword. A third time l is the Prophet commanded that when they should hold their peace, nor ask wherefore he prophesied thus, he should do that by which he should be questioned, and should answer that which the Lord had spoken.

[Responsory5]
@Tempora/111-0:Responsory5

[Lectio6]
Sigh thou, He saith, cry aloud, not softly nor only half sorrowfully, but with the breaking of thy loins, that thy groaning may come from the depth of thy bowels and from the bitterness of thy soul. And this shalt thou do before them. And when they shall ask thee wherefore thou art afflicted with such lamentation, and what evil hath befallen thee that thou groanest thus, thou shalt answer them with My word, saying I lament, and am not able to hide the grief of mine heart, because that that which hath ever sounded in mine ears will indeed be fulfilled, and cometh, even the host of the wrathful Babylonians which threateneth you and when it shall have come, and shall have made trenches all round about Jerusalem, then every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and horror shall take hold of the minds of men, and none shall dare to withstand.

[Responsory6]
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[Responsory7]
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[Responsory8]
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