Officiant Lord,
open our lips.
People 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.
Come, let us sing to
the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before
his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him
with psalms.
For the Lord is a
great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the
caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for
he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow
down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh,
that today you would hearken to his voice!
I will sing of mercy
and justice; *
to you, O LORD, will I sing praises.
I will strive to
follow a blameless course; oh, when will you come to me? *
I will
walk with sincerity of heart within my house.
I will set no
worthless thing before my eyes; *
I hate the doers of evil deeds;
they shall not remain with me.
A crooked heart
shall be far from me; *
I will not know evil.
Those who in secret
slander their neighbors I will destroy; *
those who have a haughty
look and a proud heart I cannot abide.
My eyes are upon the
faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, *
and only
those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.
Those who act
deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *
and those who tell lies
shall not continue in my sight.
I will soon destroy
all the wicked in the land, *
that I may root out all evildoers
from the city of the LORD.
Hold not your
tongue, O God of my praise; *
for the mouth of the wicked, the
mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.
They speak to me
with a lying tongue; *
they encompass me with hateful words and
fight against me without a cause.
Despite my love,
they accuse me; *
but as for me, I pray for them.
They repay evil for
good, *
and hatred for my love.
[Set a wicked man
against him, *
and let an accuser stand at his right hand.
When he is judged,
let him be found guilty, *
and let his appeal be in vain.
Let his days be few,
*
and let another take his office.
Let his children be
fatherless, *
and his wife become a widow.
Let his children be
waifs and beggars; *
let them be driven from the ruins of their
homes.
Let the creditor
seize everything he has; *
let strangers plunder his gains.
Let there be no one
to show him kindness, *
and none to pity his fatherless children.
Let his descendants
be destroyed, *
and his name be blotted out in the next
generation.
Let the wickedness
of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, *
and his mother’s
sin not be blotted out;
Let their sin be
always before the LORD; *
but let him root out their names from
the earth;
Because he did not
remember to show mercy, *
but persecuted the poor and needy and
sought to kill the brokenhearted.
He loved cursing,
let it come upon him; *
he took no delight in blessing, let it
depart from him.
He put on cursing
like a garment, *
let it soak into his body like water and into
his bones like oil;
Let it be to him
like the cloak which he wraps around himself, *
and like the belt
that he wears continually.
Let this be the
recompense from the LORD to my accusers, *
and to those who speak
evil against me.]
But you, O Lord my
God, oh, deal with me according to your Name; *
for your tender
mercy’s sake, deliver me.
For I am poor and
needy, *
and my heart is wounded within me.
I have faded away
like a shadow when it lengthens; *
I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees are weak
through fasting, *
and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.
I have become a
reproach to them; *
they see and shake their heads.
Help me, O LORD my
God; *
save me for your mercy’s sake.
Let them know that
this is your hand, *
that you, O LORD, have done it.
They may curse, but
you will bless; *
let those who rise up against me be put to
shame, and your servant will rejoice.
Let my accusers be
clothed with disgrace *
and wrap themselves in their shame as in a
cloak.
I will give great
thanks to the LORD with my mouth; *
in the midst of the multitude
will I praise him;
Because he stands at
the right hand of the needy, *
to save his life from those who
would condemn him.
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.
A Reading from the Book of Judges.
Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Allow us to detain you, and prepare a kid for you.” The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat your food; but if you want to prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?” But the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful.” So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to him who works wonders. When the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.”
The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.
The
Word of the Lord.
Thanks
be to God.
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.
A Reading from the Gospel According to John.
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” —although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized— he left Judea and started back to Galilee.
But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
The
Word of the Lord.
Thanks
be to God.
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.
Officiant The
Lord be with you.
People And
also with you.
Officiant Let
us pray.
Our
Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed
be thy Name,
thy
kingdom come,
thy
will be done,
on
earth as it is in heaven.
Give
us this day our daily bread.
And
forgive us our trespasses,
as
we forgive those
who
trespass against us.
And
lead us not into temptation,
but
deliver us from evil.
For
thine is the kingdom,
and
the power, and the glory,
for
ever and ever. Amen.
V. Show
us your mercy, O Lord;
R. And
grant us your salvation.
V. Clothe
your ministers with righteousness;
R. Let
your people sing with joy.
V. Give
peace, O Lord, in all the world;
R. For
only in you can we live in safety.
V. Lord,
keep this nation under your care;
R. And
guide us in the way of justice and truth.
V. Let
your way be known upon earth;
R. Your
saving health among all nations.
V. Let
not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
R. Nor
the hope of the poor be taken away.
V. Create
in us clean hearts, O God;
R. And
sustain us with your Holy Spirit.
Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord
Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of
the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving
embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our
hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge
and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.
Let
us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
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 God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20,21