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 63

⁽¹⁾ O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. ⁽²⁾ So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. ⁽³⁾ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. ⁽⁴⁾ Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

⁽⁵⁾ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. ⁽⁶⁾ When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. ⁽⁷⁾ Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. ⁽⁸⁾ My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

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 98

⁽¹⁾ Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. ⁽²⁾ The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. ⁽³⁾ He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. ⁽⁴⁾ Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

⁽⁵⁾ Sing to the LORD with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm, ⁽⁶⁾ With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King. ⁽⁷⁾ Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it; ⁽⁸⁾ Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD,

⁽⁹⁾ For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.

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.

Isaiah Chapter 47

⁽¹⁾ Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called Tender and delicate. ⁽²⁾ Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, Take off the skirt, Uncover the thigh, Pass through the rivers. ⁽³⁾ Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes, your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, And I will not arbitrate with a man.' ⁽⁴⁾ As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.

⁽⁵⁾ Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; For you shall no longer be called The Lady of Kingdoms. ⁽⁶⁾ I was angry with My people; I have profaned My inheritance, And given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily. ⁽⁷⁾ And you said, 'I shall be a lady forever,' So that you did not take these things to heart, Nor remember the latter end of them. ⁽⁸⁾ Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, Who dwell securely, Who say in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know the loss of children';

⁽⁹⁾ But these two things shall come to you In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For you have trusted in your wickedness; You have said, 'No one sees me'; Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; And you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one else besides me.' ⁽¹¹⁾ Therefore evil shall come upon you; You shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, Which you shall not know. ⁽¹²⁾ Stand now with your enchantments And the multitude of your sorceries, In which you have labored from your youth -- Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you will prevail.

⁽¹³⁾ You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame; It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, Nor a fire to sit before! ⁽¹⁵⁾ Thus shall they be to you With whom you have labored, Your merchants from your youth; They shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall save you.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hebrews Chapter 10

⁽¹⁹⁾ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, ⁽²⁰⁾ by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, ⁽²¹⁾ and having a High Priest over the house of God, ⁽²²⁾ let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

⁽²³⁾ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ⁽²⁴⁾ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ⁽²⁵⁾ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. ⁽²⁶⁾ For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

⁽²⁷⁾ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. ⁽²⁸⁾ Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ⁽²⁹⁾ Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? ⁽³⁰⁾ For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. And again, 'The LORD will judge His people.'

⁽³¹⁾ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 5

⁽²⁾ Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. ⁽³⁾ In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. ⁽⁴⁾ For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. ⁽⁵⁾ Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.

⁽⁶⁾ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?' ⁽⁷⁾ The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.' ⁽⁸⁾ Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk.' ⁽⁹⁾ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.

⁽¹⁰⁾ The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.' ⁽¹¹⁾ He answered them, 'He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.' ' ⁽¹²⁾ Then they asked him, 'Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?' ⁽¹³⁾ But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.

⁽¹⁴⁾ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, 'See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.' ⁽¹⁵⁾ The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ⁽¹⁶⁾ For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. ⁽¹⁷⁾ But Jesus answered them, 'My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.'

⁽¹⁸⁾ Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.


The Song of Zechariah Luke 1: 68 to 79
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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.

You are God        
You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord; we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you;
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not shun the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.


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: O God, you make us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son our Lord: Give us this day such blessing through our worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in your favor; 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