Wednesday Year 1 Proper 14
Morning Prayer

Opening Sentence

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

Versicle and Response

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.

Invitatory

Jubilate

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.

Psalms

Psalm 101

¹I will sing of mercy and justice; *
to you, O LORD, will I sing praises.

²I will strive to follow a blameless course;
oh, when will you come to me? *
I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.

³I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; *
I hate the doers of evil deeds;
they shall not remain with me.

⁴A crooked heart shall be far from me; *
I will not know evil.

⁵Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; *
those who have a haughty look and a proud
heart I cannot abide.

⁶My 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.

⁷Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *
and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.

⁸I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, *
that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the LORD.

Psalm 109

¹Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *
for the mouth of the wicked,
the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.

²They speak to me with a lying tongue; *
they encompass me with hateful words
and fight against me without a cause.

³Despite my love, they accuse me; *
but as for me, I pray for them.

⁴They repay evil for good, *
and hatred for my love.

⁵Set a wicked man against him, *
and let an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁶When he is judged, let him be found guilty, *
and let his appeal be in vain.

⁷Let his days be few, *
and let another take his office.

⁸Let his children be fatherless, *
and his wife become a widow.

⁹Let his children be waifs and beggars; *
let them be driven from the ruins of their homes.

¹⁰Let the creditor seize everything he has; *
let strangers plunder his gains.

¹¹Let there be no one to show him kindness, *
and none to pity his fatherless children.

¹²Let his descendants be destroyed, *
and his name be blotted out in the next generation.

¹³Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered before
the LORD, *
and his mother's sin not be blotted out;

¹⁴Let their sin be always before the LORD; *
but let him root out their names from the earth;

¹⁵Because he did not remember to show mercy, *
but persecuted the poor and needy
and sought to kill the brokenhearted.

¹⁶He loved cursing,
let it come upon him; *
he took no delight in blessing,
let it depart from him.

¹⁷He put on cursing like a garment, *
let it soak into his body like water
and into his bones like oil;

¹⁸Let it be to him like the cloak which he
wraps around himself, *
and like the belt that he wears continually.

¹⁹Let this be the recompense from the LORD to my accusers, *
and to those who speak evil against me.

²⁰But you, O Lord my God,
oh, deal with me according to your Name; *
for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.

²¹For I am poor and needy, *
and my heart is wounded within me.

²²I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *
I am shaken off like a locust.

²³My knees are weak through fasting, *
and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.

²⁴I have become a reproach to them; *
they see and shake their heads.

²⁵Help me, O LORD my God; *
save me for your mercy's sake.

²⁶Let them know that this is your hand, *
that you, O LORD, have done it.

²⁷They may curse, but you will bless; *
let those who rise up against me be put to shame,
and your servant will rejoice.

²⁸Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace *
and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.

²⁹I will give great thanks to the LORD with my mouth; *
in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;

³⁰Because 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.

Reading

2 Samuel 14:21-33

Then the king said to Joab, ‘Very well, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom.’ Joab prostrated himself with his face to the ground and did obeisance, and blessed the king; and Joab said, ‘Today your servant knows that I have found favour in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.’ So Joab set off, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. The king said, ‘Let him go to his own house; he is not to come into my presence.’ So Absalom went to his own house, and did not come into the king’s presence.

Now in all Israel there was no one to be praised so much for his beauty as Absalom; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. When he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels by the king’s weight. There were born to Absalom three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar; she was a beautiful woman.

So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem without coming into the king’s presence. Then Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king; but Joab would not come to him. He sent a second time, but Joab would not come. Then he said to his servants, ‘Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.’ So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. Then Joab rose and went to Absalom at his house, and said to him, ‘Why have your servants set my field on fire?’ Absalom answered Joab, ‘Look, I sent word to you: Come here, that I may send you to the king with the question, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” Now let me go into the king’s presence; if there is guilt in me, let him kill me!’ Then Joab went to the king and told him; and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and prostrated himself with his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.

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 21:15-26

After these days we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came along and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly. The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law. They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law. But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgement that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled* and from fornication.’ Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.

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.

The Apostle's 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 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.

The Lord's Prayer

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.

Suffrages

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 14

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.

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.

Prayers and Intercessions

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.

Benediction

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