Wednesday of
Proper 12 in Year 1
Morning Prayer
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
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 for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
Be joyful in the
Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord with gladness
and come
before his presence with a song.
Know this: The
Lord himself is God;
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we
are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates
with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise;
give thanks
to him and call upon his Name.
For the Lord is
good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his faithfulness endures
from age to age.
Psalm 72
1Give
the King your justice, O God,*
and your righteousness to the
King's son;
2That he may rule your people righteously
*
and the poor with justice.
3That the mountains may
bring prosperity to the people,*
and the little hills bring
righteousness.
4He shall defend the needy among the
people; *
he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.
5He
shall live as long as the sun and moon endure,*
from one
generation to another.
6He shall come down like rain
upon the mown field,*
like showers that water the earth.
7In
his time shall the righteous flourish; *
there shall be abundance
of peace till the moon shall be no more.
8He shall rule
from sea to sea,*
and from the River to the ends of the
earth.
9His foes shall bow down before him,*
and his
enemies lick the dust.
10The kings of Tarshish and of
the isles shall pay tribute,*
and the kings of Arabia and Saba
offer gifts.
11All kings shall bow down before
him,*
and all the nations do him service.
12For he
shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress,*
and the
oppressed who has no helper.
13He shall have pity on
the lowly and poor; *
he shall preserve the lives of the
needy.
14He shall redeem their lives from oppression
and violence,*
and dear shall their blood be in his sight.
15Long
may he live!
and may there be given to him gold from Arabia;*
may
prayer be made for him always,
and may they bless him all the day
long.
16May there be abundance of grain on the
earth,
growing thick even on the hilltops;*
may its fruit
flourish like Lebanon,
and its grain like grass upon the
earth.
17May his Name remain for ever
and be
established as long as the sun endures;*
may all the nations bless
themselves in him and call him blessed.
18Blessed be
the Lord GOD, the God of Israel, *
who alone does wondrous
deeds!
19And blessed be his glorious Name for ever!
*
and may all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen. Amen.
Glory to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the
beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for David* had dismissed him, and he had gone away in peace. When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, ‘Abner son of Ner came to the king, and he has dismissed him, and he has gone away in peace.’ Then Joab went to the king and said, ‘What have you done? Abner came to you; why did you dismiss him, so that he got away? You know that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you, and to learn your comings and goings and to learn all that you are doing.’
When Joab came out from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah; but David did not know about it. When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gateway to speak with him privately, and there he stabbed him in the stomach. So he died for shedding* the blood of Asahel, Joab’s* brother. Afterwards, when David heard of it, he said, ‘I and my kingdom are for ever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner son of Ner. May the guilt* fall on the head of Joab, and on all his father’s house; and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge, or who is leprous,* or who holds a spindle, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks food!’ So Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.
Then David said
to Joab and to all the people who were with him, ‘Tear your
clothes, and put on sackcloth, and mourn over Abner.’ And King
David followed the bier. They buried Abner at Hebron. The king lifted
up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.
The king lamented for Abner, saying,
‘Should Abner die as a
fool dies?
Your hands were not bound,
your
feet were not fettered;
as one falls before the wicked
you
have fallen.’
And all the people wept over him again. Then
all the people came to persuade David to eat something while it was
still day; but David swore, saying, ‘So may God do to me, and
more, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down!’
All the people took notice of it, and it pleased them; just as
everything the king did pleased all the people. So all the people and
all Israel understood that day that the king had no part in the
killing of Abner son of Ner. And the king said to his servants, ‘Do
you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in
Israel? Today I am powerless, even though anointed king; these men,
the sons of Zeruiah, are too violent for me. The Lord pay back the
one who does wickedly in accordance with his wickedness!’
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Canticle 11 The Third Song of Isaiah
Arise, shine, for your light has come, *
and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold, darkness covers the land; *
deep gloom enshrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise, *
and his glory will appear upon you.
Nations will stream to your light, *
and kings to the brightness of your dawning.
Your gates will always be open; *
by day or night they will never be shut.
They will call you, The City of the Lord, *
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Violence will no more be heard in your land, *
ruin or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls, Salvation, *
and all your portals, Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day; *
by night you will not need the brightness of the moon.
The Lord will be your everlasting light, *
and
your God will be your glory.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Reading
Acts 16:16-24
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you* a way of salvation.’ She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour.
But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market-place before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’ The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Canticle 16
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 for ever. Amen.
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
power of 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
Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Our Father in
heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will
be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our
daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin
against us.
Save us from the
time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance;
Govern and uphold them, now and always.
Day by day we bless you;
We praise your name for ever.
Lord, keep us from all sin today;
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
Lord, show us your love and mercy;
For we put our trust in you.
In you, Lord, is our hope;
And we shall never hope in vain.
Collect of the Day: Pentecost, proper 12
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Peace
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.
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.
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
General Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Glory to God
whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or
imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church,
and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20,21