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 71

⁽¹⁾ In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame. ⁽²⁾ Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me. ⁽³⁾ Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. ⁽⁴⁾ Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

⁽⁵⁾ For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. ⁽⁶⁾ By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of You. ⁽⁷⁾ I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge. ⁽⁸⁾ Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.

⁽⁹⁾ Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, ⁽¹¹⁾ Saying, 'God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.' ⁽¹²⁾ O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!

⁽¹³⁾ Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt. ⁽¹⁴⁾ But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. ⁽¹⁵⁾ My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits. ⁽¹⁶⁾ I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

⁽¹⁷⁾ O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? ⁽²⁰⁾ You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

⁽²¹⁾ You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side. ⁽²²⁾ Also with the lute I will praise you -- And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. ⁽²³⁾ My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed. ⁽²⁴⁾ My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded, For they are brought to shame Who seek my hurt.

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 23

⁽¹⁾ Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ⁽²⁾ So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ⁽³⁾ Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, ⁽⁴⁾ I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.'

⁽⁵⁾ And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁽⁶⁾ Hear us, my lord: You are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.' ⁽⁷⁾ Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. ⁽⁸⁾ And he spoke with them, saying, 'If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me,

⁽⁹⁾ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.' ⁽¹⁰⁾ Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who entered at the gate of his city, saying, ⁽¹¹⁾ No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!' ⁽¹²⁾ Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land;

⁽¹³⁾ and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, 'If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.' ⁽¹⁴⁾ And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁽¹⁵⁾ My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.

⁽¹⁷⁾ So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded ⁽¹⁸⁾ to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. ⁽¹⁹⁾ And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ⁽²⁰⁾ So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hebrews Chapter 11

⁽³²⁾ And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ⁽³³⁾ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ⁽³⁴⁾ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ⁽³⁵⁾ Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.

⁽³⁶⁾ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. ⁽³⁷⁾ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented -- ⁽³⁸⁾ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. ⁽³⁹⁾ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,

⁽⁴⁰⁾ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. ⁽¹⁾ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ⁽²⁾ looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 6

⁽⁶⁰⁾ Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, 'This is a hard saying; who can understand it?' ⁽⁶¹⁾ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, 'Does this offend you? ⁽⁶²⁾ What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? ⁽⁶³⁾ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

⁽⁶⁴⁾ But there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁽⁶⁵⁾ And He said, 'Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.' ⁽⁶⁶⁾ From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. ⁽⁶⁷⁾ Then Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you also want to go away?'

⁽⁶⁸⁾ But Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁽⁶⁹⁾ Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' ⁽⁷⁰⁾ Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?' ⁽⁷¹⁾ He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

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:  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: 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