[Ant 1]
O Lord, the King of kings, That containest the circuit of the heavens and beholdest the depths, That weighest the mountains, and holdest the earth in thine hand, * hear us, O Lord, when we cry unto thee.

[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 Osee
!Hos 1:1-3
1 The word of the Lord, that came to Osee the son of Beeri, in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias kings of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel.
2 The beginning of the Lord's speaking by Osee: and the Lord said to Osee: Go, take thee a wife of fornications, and have of her children of fornications: for the land by fornication shall depart from the Lord.
3 So he went, and took Gomer the daughter of Debelaim: and she conceived and bore him a son.

[Responsory1]
@Tempora/Pent01-0:Responsory1

[Lectio2]
!Hos 1:4-7
4 And the Lord said to him: Call his name Jezrahel: for yet a little while, and I will visit the blood of Jezrahel upon the house of Jehu, and I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 And in that day I will break in pieces the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezrahel.
6 And she conceived again, and bore a daughter, and he said to him: Call her name, Without mercy: for I will not add any more to have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly forget them.
7 And I will have mercy on the house of Juda, and I will save them by the Lord their God: and Iwill not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen.

[Responsory2]
@Tempora/111-0:Responsory2

[Lectio3]
!Hos 1:8-11
8 And she weaned her that was called Without mercy. And she conceived, and bore a son.
9 And he said: Call his name, Not my people: for you are not my people, and I will not be yours.
10 And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, that is without measure, and shall not be numbered. And it shall be in the place where it shall be said to them: You are not my people: it shall be said to them: Ye are the sons of the living God.
11 And the children of Juda, and the children of Israel shall be gathered together: and they shall appoint themselves one head, and shall come up out of the land: for great is the day of Jezrahel.

[Responsory3]
@Tempora/111-0:Responsory3

[Lectio4]
From the Book Upon the City of God, written by St Austin, Bishop (of Hippo.)
!Bk. xviii. ch. 28.
AS to the Prophet Hosea, the deeper his meaning, the harder to pierce. But somewhat may be gotten out of him, and, as I promised, I will give it here. He saith And it shall come to pass that, in the place where it shall be said unto them, Ye are not My people, there it shall be said unto them Ye are the sons of the living God. This was understood even by the Apostles as a Prophetic witness to the call of the Gentiles, who erst had not been God's people. (Rom. ix. 24-26.)

[Responsory4]
@Tempora/111-0:Responsory4

[Lectio5]
And since the converted Gentiles are the spiritual children of Abraham, and are therefore rightly called Israelites, therefore he goeth on, and saith: Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land. If we went on expounding this, we should water down the flavour of the prophetic draught. Let there be remembered, however, that Corner Stone, and let there be acknowledged those twain walls, (which It bindeth in one,) the Jews and the Gentiles, one called the children of Judah and the other the children of Israel, bound together under One Head, and coming up out of the land.

[Responsory5]
@Tempora/111-0:Responsory5

[Lectio6]
Concerning them that are now Israelites according to the flesh, that will not now believe in Christ, but shall believe hereafter, (that is, their children shall believe, for these shall die, and go to their own place,) this same Prophet giveth witness, where he saith The children of Israel shall abide many days without a King, and without a Prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an Altar, and without a Priest, and without oracles. (iii. 4.) To whom is it not manifest that such is the state of the Jews now

[Responsory6]
@Tempora/111-0:Responsory6

[Responsory7]
@Tempora/111-0:Responsory7

[Responsory8]
@Tempora/Pent01-0:Responsory8
