Evening Prayer

Ordinary Time
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

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 earth is the Lord's for he made it: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 50

⁽¹⁾ The Mighty One, God the LORD, Has spoken and called the earth From the rising of the sun to its going down. ⁽²⁾ Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth. ⁽³⁾ Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; A fire shall devour before Him, And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. ⁽⁴⁾ He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people:

⁽⁵⁾ Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.' ⁽⁶⁾ Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah ⁽⁷⁾ Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; I am God, your God! ⁽⁸⁾ I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices Or your burnt offerings, Which are continually before Me.

⁽⁹⁾ I will not take a bull from your house, Nor goats out of your folds. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. ⁽¹¹⁾ I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. ⁽¹²⁾ If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

⁽¹³⁾ Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? ⁽¹⁴⁾ Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. ⁽¹⁵⁾ Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ But to the wicked God says: 'What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth,

⁽¹⁷⁾ Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you? ⁽¹⁸⁾ When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers. ⁽¹⁹⁾ You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit. ⁽²⁰⁾ You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother's son.

⁽²¹⁾ These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes. ⁽²²⁾ Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, And there be none to deliver: ⁽²³⁾ Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.'

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.

Job Chapter 29

⁽¹⁾ Job further continued his discourse, and said: ⁽¹⁾ I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman? ⁽²⁾ For what is the allotment of God from above, And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high? ⁽³⁾ Is it not destruction for the wicked, And disaster for the workers of iniquity? ⁽⁴⁾ Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps?

⁽⁵⁾ If I have walked with falsehood, Or if my foot has hastened to deceit, ⁽⁶⁾ Let me be weighed on honest scales, That God may know my integrity. ⁽⁷⁾ If my step has turned from the way, Or my heart walked after my eyes, Or if any spot adheres to my hands, ⁽⁸⁾ Then let me sow, and another eat; Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.

⁽⁹⁾ If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door, ⁽¹⁰⁾ Then let my wife grind for another, And let others bow down over her. ⁽¹¹⁾ For that would be wickedness; Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment. ⁽¹²⁾ For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my increase.

⁽¹³⁾ If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me, ⁽¹⁴⁾ What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? ⁽¹⁵⁾ Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb? ⁽¹⁶⁾ If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

⁽¹⁷⁾ Or eaten my morsel by myself, So that the fatherless could not eat of it ⁽¹⁸⁾ (But from my youth I reared him as a father, And from my mother's womb I guided the widow); ⁽¹⁹⁾ If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or any poor man without covering; ⁽²⁰⁾ If his heart has not blessed me, And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

⁽²¹⁾ If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, When I saw I had help in the gate; ⁽²²⁾ Then let my arm fall from my shoulder, Let my arm be torn from the socket. ⁽²³⁾ For destruction from God is a terror to me, And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Acts Chapter 15

⁽¹⁾ And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.' ⁽²⁾ Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. ⁽³⁾ So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. ⁽⁴⁾ And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.

⁽⁵⁾ But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, 'It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.' ⁽⁶⁾ Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. ⁽⁷⁾ And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: 'Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁽⁸⁾ So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,

⁽⁹⁾ and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ⁽¹¹⁾ But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

John Chapter 11

⁽¹⁷⁾ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. ⁽¹⁹⁾ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. ⁽²⁰⁾ Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.

⁽²¹⁾ Then Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ⁽²²⁾ But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.' ⁽²³⁾ Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' ⁽²⁴⁾ Martha said to Him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.'

⁽²⁵⁾ Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ⁽²⁶⁾ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?' ⁽²⁷⁾ She said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.' ⁽²⁸⁾ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, 'The Teacher has come and is calling for you.'

⁽²⁹⁾ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.

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:  Proper 18 The Sunday closest to September 7
Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 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