Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height and look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One.
Baruch 5:5
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!
O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger; *
do not punish me in your
wrath.
For your arrows have already pierced me, *
and your hand presses
hard upon me.
There is no health in my flesh,
because of your indignation;
*
there is no soundness in my body, because of my sin.
For my iniquities overwhelm me; *
like a heavy burden they are too
much for me to bear.
My wounds stink and fester *
by reason of my foolishness.
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; *
I go about in mourning
all the day long.
My loins are filled with searing pain; *
there is no health in my
body.
I am utterly numb and crushed; *
I wail, because of the groaning
of my heart.
O Lord, you know all my desires, *
and my sighing is not hidden
from you.
My heart is pounding, my strength has failed me, *
and the
brightness of my eyes is gone from me.
My friends and companions draw back from my affliction; *
my
neighbors stand afar off.
Those who seek after my life lay snares for me; *
those who strive
to hurt me speak of my ruin
and plot treachery all the day long.
But I am like the deaf who do not hear, *
like those who are mute
and who do not open their mouth.
I have become like one who does not hear *
and from whose mouth
comes no defense.
For in you, O LORD, have I fixed my hope; *
you will answer me, O
Lord my God.
For I said, “Do not let them rejoice at my expense, *
those
who gloat over me when my foot slips.”
Truly, I am on the verge of falling, *
and my pain is always with
me.
I will confess my iniquity *
and be sorry for my sin.
Those who are my enemies without cause are mighty, *
and many in
number are those who wrongfully hate me.
Those who repay evil for good slander me, *
because I follow the
course that is right.
O LORD, do not forsake me; *
be not far from me, O my God.
Make haste to help me, *
O Lord of my salvation.
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 the Prophet Isaiah.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.
And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
And he said, “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.” Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; until the LORD sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.
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 Second Letter to the Thessalonians.
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.
This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for 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.
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.
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.
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