Morning Prayer

Ordinary Time
I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord.' Psalm 122:1

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 mercy of the Lord is everlasting: Come let us adore him.

The Lessons

Psalm 45

⁽¹⁾ My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. ⁽²⁾ You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. ⁽³⁾ Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, With Your glory and Your majesty. ⁽⁴⁾ And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.

⁽⁵⁾ Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies; The peoples fall under You. ⁽⁶⁾ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. ⁽⁷⁾ You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions. ⁽⁸⁾ All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.

⁽⁹⁾ Kings' daughters are among Your honorable women; At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Listen, O daughter, Consider and incline your ear; Forget your own people also, and your father's house; ⁽¹¹⁾ So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him. ⁽¹²⁾ And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; The rich among the people will seek your favor.

⁽¹³⁾ The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; Her clothing is woven with gold. ⁽¹⁴⁾ She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. ⁽¹⁵⁾ With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; They shall enter the King's palace. ⁽¹⁶⁾ Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, Whom You shall make princes in all the earth.

⁽¹⁷⁾ I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations; Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.

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.

Joshua Chapter 8

⁽¹⁾ Now the LORD said to Joshua: 'Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. ⁽²⁾ And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it.' ⁽³⁾ So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night. ⁽⁴⁾ And he commanded them, saying: 'Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

⁽⁵⁾ Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall flee before them. ⁽⁶⁾ For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, 'They are fleeing before us as at the first.' Therefore we will flee before them. ⁽⁷⁾ Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. ⁽⁸⁾ And it will be, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the LORD you shall do. See, I have commanded you.'

⁽⁹⁾ Joshua therefore sent them out; and they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua lodged that night among the people. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. ⁽¹¹⁾ And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near; and they came before the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley lay between them and Ai. ⁽¹²⁾ So he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

⁽¹³⁾ And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Now it happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. ⁽¹⁵⁾ And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. ⁽¹⁶⁾ So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

⁽¹⁷⁾ There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued Israel. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Then the LORD said to Joshua, 'Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.' And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city. ⁽¹⁹⁾ So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to set the city on fire. ⁽²⁰⁾ And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

⁽²¹⁾ Now when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. ⁽²²⁾ Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Romans Chapter 14

⁽¹⁾ Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. ⁽²⁾ For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. ⁽³⁾ Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. ⁽⁴⁾ Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

⁽⁵⁾ One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁽⁶⁾ He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. ⁽⁷⁾ For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. ⁽⁸⁾ For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

⁽⁹⁾ For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. ⁽¹⁰⁾ But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ⁽¹¹⁾ For it is written: 'As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.' ⁽¹²⁾ So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Matthew Chapter 26

⁽⁴⁷⁾ And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. ⁽⁴⁸⁾ Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, 'Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.' ⁽⁴⁹⁾ Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, 'Greetings, Rabbi!' and kissed Him. ⁽⁵⁰⁾ But Jesus said to him, 'Friend, why have you come?' Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.

⁽⁵¹⁾ And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. ⁽⁵²⁾ But Jesus said to him, 'Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. ⁽⁵³⁾ Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? ⁽⁵⁴⁾ How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?'

⁽⁵⁵⁾ In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, 'Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. ⁽⁵⁶⁾ But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.' Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

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

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.


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 11 The Sunday closest to July 20
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, 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