Evening Prayer - October 30, 2026

Today's Readings

Psalm 31:1-24

Ecclesiasticus 11:2-20

Revelation 9:13-21

Luke 10:38-42

Ordinary Time
The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him. Habakkuk 2:20

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

ⓘ 'Venite' is Latin for 'O Come,' the opening word of Psalm 95: Venite exultemus Domino ('O Come, let us sing to the LORD').

Psalm 95:1 to 7
Come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
   and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth,
   and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
   and his hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee,
   and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
    Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

The Antiphon:

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

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 31

⁽¹⁾ In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed; Deliver me in Your righteousness.⁽²⁾ Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily; Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me.⁽³⁾ For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name's sake, Lead me and guide me.⁽⁴⁾ Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.

⁽⁵⁾ Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.⁽⁶⁾ I have hated those who regard useless idols; But I trust in the LORD.⁽⁷⁾ I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities,⁽⁸⁾ And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.

⁽⁹⁾ Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, my soul and my body!⁽¹⁰⁾ For my life is spent with grief, And my years with sighing; My strength fails because of my iniquity, And my bones waste away.⁽¹¹⁾ I am a reproach among all my enemies, But especially among my neighbors, And am repulsive to my acquaintances; Those who see me outside flee from me.⁽¹²⁾ I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.

⁽¹³⁾ For I hear the slander of many; Fear is on every side; While they take counsel together against me, They scheme to take away my life.⁽¹⁴⁾ But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, 'You are my God.'⁽¹⁵⁾ My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me.⁽¹⁶⁾ Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me for Your mercies' sake.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD, for I have called upon You; Let the wicked be ashamed; Let them be silent in the grave.⁽¹⁸⁾ Let the lying lips be put to silence, Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.⁽¹⁹⁾ Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!⁽²⁰⁾ You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues.

⁽²¹⁾ Blessed be the LORD, For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city!⁽²²⁾ For I said in my haste, 'I am cut off from before Your eyes'; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried out to You.⁽²³⁾ Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person.⁽²⁴⁾ Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.

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.

Ecclesiasticus Chapter 11

⁽²⁾ Do not compliment a person on his good looks. On the other hand, do not look down on someone who is unattractive.⁽³⁾ Compared to most flying things, a bee is very small, but the honey it makes is the sweetest of foods.⁽⁴⁾ Don't make fun of someone who has fallen on hard times and is dressed in rags.The Lord does wonderful things that human beings never notice.⁽⁵⁾ Many are the kings who have ended their careers sitting on the ground, while their crowns were worn by those no one had heard of before.

⁽⁶⁾ Many are the rulers who have suffered disgrace. Many are the famous people who have fallen into the power of others.⁽⁷⁾ Before you start criticizing, get your facts straight and think the matter through.⁽⁸⁾ Don't interrupt while someone is speaking; hear what he has to say before you answer.⁽⁹⁾ Don't get into an argument over something that is none of your business. Don't take part in decisions that are being made by sinners.

⁽¹⁰⁾ My child, don't get involved in too many things. If you try to do too much, you will suffer for it. You won't be able to finish your work, and you won't be able to get away from it either.⁽¹¹⁾ For instance, here is someone who never stops working like a slave, but gets further behind all the time.⁽¹²⁾ On the other hand, someone else may be very poor and not up to his task. He may be slow, and he may need help, but the Lord is pleased with him and pulls him out of his bad situation.⁽¹³⁾ When he is back on his feet again, everyone is astounded.

⁽¹⁴⁾ Everything comes from the Lord: success and failure, poverty and wealth, life and death.⁽¹⁵⁾ Wisdom, understanding, knowledge of the Law, love, and the doing of good deeds all these come from the Lord.⁽¹⁶⁾ Error and darkness have been with sinners from the beginning, and those who enjoy evil will have it with them into their old age.⁽¹⁷⁾ The Lord's gifts to religious people are gifts that endure. If he approves of you, you will always be successful.

⁽¹⁸⁾ Someone may grow rich by working hard and denying himself pleasure, but what does he get for it?⁽¹⁹⁾ He says to himself, 'Now I can finally sit back and enjoy what I have worked for.' But he has no idea how long it will be before he must die and leave his wealth to others.⁽²⁰⁾ Stand by your duty and stick to it; grow old at your work.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Revelation Chapter 9

⁽¹³⁾ Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,⁽¹⁴⁾ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.'⁽¹⁵⁾ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.⁽¹⁶⁾ Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

⁽¹⁷⁾ And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.⁽¹⁸⁾ By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed -- by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.⁽¹⁹⁾ For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.⁽²⁰⁾ But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

⁽²¹⁾ And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Luke Chapter 10

⁽³⁸⁾ Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.⁽³⁹⁾ And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.⁽⁴⁰⁾ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.'⁽⁴¹⁾ And Jesus answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

⁽⁴²⁾ But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Second Song of Isaiah Isaiah 55:6 to 11

Seek the Lord while he wills to be found;
call upon him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the evil ones their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have compassion,
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens
and return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth,
seed for sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;
it will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed,
and prosper in that for which I sent it.
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

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

Suffrages

ⓘ A simple prayer to God for help, mercy, or intercession, rooted in the Latin word for support.

Show us your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Let your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us by your Holy Spirit.

Seasonal Collect: Proper 24 The Sunday closest to October 19
Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; 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: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others.

Closing Prayers

Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory, and, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

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

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Romans 15:13