Evening Prayer

Epiphany
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6b

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 Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 50

⁽¹⁾ The Mighty One, God the LORD, Has spoken and called the earth From the rising of the sun to its going down. ⁽²⁾ Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth. ⁽³⁾ Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; A fire shall devour before Him, And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. ⁽⁴⁾ He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people:

⁽⁵⁾ Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.' ⁽⁶⁾ Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah ⁽⁷⁾ Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; I am God, your God! ⁽⁸⁾ I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices Or your burnt offerings, Which are continually before Me.

⁽⁹⁾ I will not take a bull from your house, Nor goats out of your folds. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. ⁽¹¹⁾ I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. ⁽¹²⁾ If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

⁽¹³⁾ Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? ⁽¹⁴⁾ Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ But to the wicked God says: 'What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth,

⁽¹⁷⁾ Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you? ⁽¹⁸⁾ When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers. ⁽¹⁹⁾ You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit. ⁽²⁰⁾ You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother's son.

⁽²¹⁾ These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes. ⁽²²⁾ Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, And there be none to deliver: ⁽²³⁾ Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.'

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.

Genesis Chapter 16

⁽¹⁵⁾ So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ⁽¹⁶⁾ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. ⁽¹⁾ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. ⁽²⁾ And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.' ⁽³⁾ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ⁽⁴⁾ As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.

⁽⁵⁾ No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁽⁶⁾ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. ⁽⁷⁾ And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. ⁽⁸⁾ Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.'

⁽⁹⁾ And God said to Abraham: 'As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ⁽¹⁰⁾ This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; ⁽¹¹⁾ and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ⁽¹²⁾ He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.

⁽¹³⁾ He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ⁽¹⁴⁾ And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hebrews Chapter 10

⁽¹⁾ For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. ⁽²⁾ For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. ⁽³⁾ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁽⁴⁾ For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

⁽⁵⁾ Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. ⁽⁶⁾ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. ⁽⁷⁾ Then I said, 'Behold, I have come -- In the volume of the book it is written of Me -- To do Your will, O God.' ' ⁽⁸⁾ Previously saying, 'Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them' (which are offered according to the law),

⁽⁹⁾ then He said, 'Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.' He takes away the first that He may establish the second. ⁽¹⁰⁾ By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 5

⁽³⁰⁾ I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. ⁽³¹⁾ If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. ⁽³²⁾ There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. ⁽³³⁾ You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.

⁽³⁴⁾ Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. ⁽³⁵⁾ He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. ⁽³⁶⁾ But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. ⁽³⁷⁾ And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.

⁽³⁸⁾ But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. ⁽³⁹⁾ You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. ⁽⁴⁰⁾ But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. ⁽⁴¹⁾ I do not receive honor from men.

⁽⁴²⁾ But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. ⁽⁴³⁾ I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. ⁽⁴⁴⁾ How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? ⁽⁴⁵⁾ Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.

⁽⁴⁶⁾ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. ⁽⁴⁷⁾ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.


The Song of Moses    Exodus 15:1 to 6, 11 to 13, 17 to 18

I will sing to the Lord, for he is lofty and uplifted;
the horse and its rider has he hurled into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my refuge;
the Lord has become my Savior.
This is my God and I will praise him,
the God of my people and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a mighty warrior;
Yahweh is his Name.
The chariots of Pharoah and his army has he hurled into the sea;
the finest of those who bear armor have been drowned in the Red Sea.
The fathomless deep has overwhelmed them;
they sank into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in might;
your right hand, O Lord, has overthrown the enemy.
Who can be compared with you, O Lord, among the gods?
who is like you, glorious in holiness,
awesome in renown, and worker of wonders?
You stretched forth your right hand;
the earth swallowed them up.
With your constant love you led the people you redeemed;
with your might you brought them in safety to
your holy dwelling.
You will bring them in and plant them
on the mount of your possession,
The resting-place you have made for yourself, O Lord,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hand has established.
The Lord shall reign forever and forever.
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:  Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; 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