Evening Prayer

Ordinary Time
The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. John 4:23

Confession of Sin
Most merciful God,
I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen

The Invitatory and Psalter

Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen   Alleluia

Venite
The Antiphon:

ⓘ   A short, reflective sentence recited alongside a psalm to deepen our understanding of the readings.

The mercy of the Lord is everlasting: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 56

⁽¹⁾ Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. ⁽²⁾ My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. ⁽³⁾ Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. ⁽⁴⁾ In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?

⁽⁵⁾ All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. ⁽⁶⁾ They gather together, They hide, they mark my steps, When they lie in wait for my life. ⁽⁷⁾ Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God! ⁽⁸⁾ You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?

⁽⁹⁾ When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. ⁽¹⁰⁾ In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), ⁽¹¹⁾ In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? ⁽¹²⁾ Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You,

⁽¹³⁾ For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Psalm 57

⁽¹⁾ Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. ⁽²⁾ I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. ⁽³⁾ He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. ⁽⁴⁾ My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men Who are set on fire, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword.

⁽⁵⁾ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. ⁽⁶⁾ They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They have dug a pit before me; Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah ⁽⁷⁾ My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. ⁽⁸⁾ Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn.

⁽⁹⁾ I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds. ⁽¹¹⁾ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Nehemiah Chapter 6

⁽¹⁾ Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), ⁽²⁾ that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, 'Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.' But they thought to do me harm. ⁽³⁾ So I sent messengers to them, saying, 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?' ⁽⁴⁾ But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

⁽⁵⁾ Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. ⁽⁶⁾ In it was written: It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. ⁽⁷⁾ And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, 'There is a king in Judah!' Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together. ⁽⁸⁾ Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.'

⁽⁹⁾ For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, 'Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.' Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Afterward I came to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was a secret informer; and he said, 'Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, at night they will come to kill you.' ⁽¹¹⁾ And I said, 'Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!' ⁽¹²⁾ Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

⁽¹³⁾ For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me. ⁽¹⁴⁾ My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid. ⁽¹⁵⁾ So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. ⁽¹⁶⁾ And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Also in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came to them. ⁽¹⁸⁾ For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Also they reported his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Revelation Chapter 10

⁽¹⁾ I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. ⁽²⁾ He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ⁽³⁾ and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. ⁽⁴⁾ Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, 'Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.'

⁽⁵⁾ The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven ⁽⁶⁾ and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, ⁽⁷⁾ but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. ⁽⁸⁾ Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, 'Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.'

⁽⁹⁾ So I went to the angel and said to him, 'Give me the little book.' And he said to me, 'Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.' ⁽¹⁰⁾ Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. ⁽¹¹⁾ And he said to me, 'You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Matthew Chapter 13

⁽³⁶⁾ Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, 'Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.' ⁽³⁷⁾ He answered and said to them: 'He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ⁽³⁸⁾ The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. ⁽³⁹⁾ The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

⁽⁴⁰⁾ Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. ⁽⁴¹⁾ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, ⁽⁴²⁾ and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁽⁴³⁾ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Song of the Redeemed       Revelation 15:3 to 4  
O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds are they that you have done,
  surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth,
 O King of all the ages.

Who can fail to do you homage, Lord,
and sing the praises of your Name?
  for you only are the Holy One.
All nations will draw near
and fall down before you,
  because your just and holy works have been revealed.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
  as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

The First Song of Isaiah       Isaiah 12:2 to 6
 
Surely, it is God who saves me;
  I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold
and my sure defense,
  and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing
  from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say,
  Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;
Make his deeds known among the peoples;
  see that they remember that his Name is exalted.
Sing the praises of the Lord,
for he has done great things,
  and this is known in all the world.
Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy,
  for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.


The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
  He descended to the dead.
  On the third day he rose again.
  He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
  the holy catholic Church,
  the communion of saints,
  the forgiveness of sins,
  the resurrection of the body,
  and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Prayers

The Lord's Prayer   Traditional
Suffrages A

Seasonal Collect:  Proper 26 The Sunday closest to November 2
Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others. When you lack the words


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

Conclude with the following
Let Us Bless the Lord, Thanks be to God

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14