Evening Prayer

Epiphany
From the rising of the sun to its setting my Name shall be great among the nations, and in every place incense shall be offered to my Name, and a pure offering: for my Name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 1:11

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 121

⁽¹⁾ I will lift up my eyes to the hills -- From whence comes my help? ⁽²⁾ My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. ⁽³⁾ He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. ⁽⁴⁾ Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

⁽⁵⁾ The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. ⁽⁶⁾ The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. ⁽⁷⁾ The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. ⁽⁸⁾ The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

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 122

⁽¹⁾ I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the LORD.' ⁽²⁾ Our feet have been standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem! ⁽³⁾ Jerusalem is built As a city that is compact together, ⁽⁴⁾ Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the LORD, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the LORD.

⁽⁵⁾ For thrones are set there for judgment, The thrones of the house of David. ⁽⁶⁾ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May they prosper who love you. ⁽⁷⁾ Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces.' ⁽⁸⁾ For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, 'Peace be within you.'

⁽⁹⁾ Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.

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 123

⁽¹⁾ Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. ⁽²⁾ Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He has mercy on us. ⁽³⁾ Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. ⁽⁴⁾ Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud.

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.

Proverbs Chapter 4

⁽¹⁾ Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding; ⁽²⁾ For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. ⁽³⁾ When I was my father's son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, ⁽⁴⁾ He also taught me, and said to me: 'Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live.

⁽⁵⁾ Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. ⁽⁶⁾ Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. ⁽⁷⁾ Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. ⁽⁸⁾ Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.

⁽⁹⁾ She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you.' ⁽¹⁰⁾ Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. ⁽¹¹⁾ I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. ⁽¹²⁾ When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble.

⁽¹³⁾ Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on. ⁽¹⁶⁾ For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall.

⁽¹⁷⁾ For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. ⁽¹⁸⁾ But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. ⁽¹⁹⁾ The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble. ⁽²⁰⁾ My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

⁽²¹⁾ Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; ⁽²²⁾ For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. ⁽²³⁾ Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. ⁽²⁴⁾ Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.

⁽²⁵⁾ Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. ⁽²⁶⁾ Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. ⁽²⁷⁾ Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

1 John Chapter 4

⁽⁷⁾ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁽⁸⁾ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁽⁹⁾ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ⁽¹⁰⁾ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

⁽¹¹⁾ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ⁽¹²⁾ No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. ⁽¹³⁾ By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ⁽¹⁴⁾ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.

⁽¹⁵⁾ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ⁽¹⁶⁾ And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. ⁽¹⁷⁾ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ⁽¹⁸⁾ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

⁽¹⁹⁾ We love Him because He first loved us. ⁽²⁰⁾ If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? ⁽²¹⁾ And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 11

⁽³⁰⁾ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. ⁽³¹⁾ Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, 'She is going to the tomb to weep there.' ⁽³²⁾ Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.' ⁽³³⁾ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

⁽³⁴⁾ And He said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' ⁽³⁵⁾ Jesus wept. ⁽³⁶⁾ Then the Jews said, 'See how He loved him!' ⁽³⁷⁾ And some of them said, 'Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?'

⁽³⁸⁾ Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ⁽³⁹⁾ Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, 'Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.' ⁽⁴⁰⁾ Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?' ⁽⁴¹⁾ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, 'Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

⁽⁴²⁾ And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.' ⁽⁴³⁾ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!' ⁽⁴⁴⁾ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Loose him, and let him go.'

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

A Song to the Lamb       Revelation 4:11, 5:9 to 10, 13

Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is,
and by your will they were created
  and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain,
for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation,
a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne,
and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor,
forever and forevermore.

The Song of Zechariah Luke 1: 68 to 79

Glory to you, Lord God of our fathers;
you are worthy of praise; glory to you.
Glory to you for the radiance of your holy Name;
we will praise you and highly exalt you forever.

Glory to you in the splendor of your temple;
on the throne of your majesty, glory to you.
Glory to you, seated between the Cherubim;
we will praise you and highly exalt you forever.

Glory to you, beholding the depths;
in the high vault of heaven, glory to you.
Glory to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
we will praise you and highly exalt you forever.



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:  Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany
O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of 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. When you lack the words


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

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