Evening Prayer

Today is the Feast of The Presentation -- Click for Readings
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

Saint and Major Saints' Days
Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:4

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 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.

Genesis Chapter 19

⁽¹⁾ Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. ⁽²⁾ And he said, 'Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.' And they said, 'No, but we will spend the night in the open square.' ⁽³⁾ But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁽⁴⁾ Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.

⁽⁵⁾ And they called to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.' ⁽⁶⁾ So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁽⁷⁾ and said, 'Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! ⁽⁸⁾ See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.'

⁽⁹⁾ And they said, 'Stand back!' Then they said, 'This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.' So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. ⁽¹⁰⁾ But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ⁽¹¹⁾ And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door. ⁽¹²⁾ Then the men said to Lot, 'Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city -- take them out of this place!

⁽¹³⁾ For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.' ⁽¹⁴⁾ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, 'Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!' But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. ⁽¹⁵⁾ When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, 'Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

⁽¹⁷⁾ So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, 'Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.' ⁽¹⁸⁾ Then Lot said to them, 'Please, no, my lords! ⁽¹⁹⁾ Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. ⁽²⁰⁾ See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.'

⁽²¹⁾ And he said to him, 'See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. ⁽²²⁾ Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.' Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. ⁽²³⁾ The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ⁽²⁴⁾ Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens.

⁽²⁵⁾ So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ⁽²⁶⁾ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. ⁽²⁷⁾ And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. ⁽²⁸⁾ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.

⁽²⁹⁾ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hebrews Chapter 11

⁽¹⁾ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ⁽²⁾ For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ⁽³⁾ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. ⁽⁴⁾ By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

⁽⁵⁾ By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him'; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁽⁶⁾ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. ⁽⁷⁾ By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. ⁽⁸⁾ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

⁽⁹⁾ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ⁽¹⁰⁾ for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. ⁽¹¹⁾ By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. ⁽¹²⁾ Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude -- innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 6

⁽²⁷⁾ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.' ⁽²⁸⁾ Then they said to Him, 'What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?' ⁽²⁹⁾ Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.' ⁽³⁰⁾ Therefore they said to Him, 'What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?

⁽³¹⁾ Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' ' ⁽³²⁾ Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ⁽³³⁾ For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' ⁽³⁴⁾ Then they said to Him, 'Lord, give us this bread always.'

⁽³⁵⁾ And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. ⁽³⁶⁾ But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. ⁽³⁷⁾ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. ⁽³⁸⁾ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

⁽³⁹⁾ This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁽⁴⁰⁾ And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.'

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:  Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and 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