Yours is the day, O God, yours also the night; you established the moon and the sun. You fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.
Psalm 74:15,16
Officiant O
God, make speed to save us.
People O
Lord, make haste to help us.
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.
O gracious light,
pure brightness of the everliving
Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as
we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper
light,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy
voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of Life,
and to be glorified
through all the worlds.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, *
abides
under the shadow of the Almighty.
He shall say to the LORD,
“You are my refuge
and my stronghold, *
my God in whom I put my trust.”
He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter *
and
from the deadly pestilence.
He shall cover you with his pinions,
and you shall
find refuge under his wings; *
his faithfulness shall be a shield
and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of any terror by night, *
nor
of the arrow that flies by day;
Of the plague that stalks in the darkness, *
nor of
the sickness that lays waste at mid-day.
A thousand shall fall at your side
and ten thousand
at your right hand, *
but it shall not come near you.
Your eyes have only to behold *
to see the reward of
the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD your refuge, *
and the
Most High your habitation,
There shall no evil happen to you, *
neither shall
any plague come near your dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over you, *
to
keep you in all your ways.
They shall bear you in their hands, *
lest you dash
your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the adder; *
you
shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.
Because he is bound to me in love,
therefore will I
deliver him; *
I will protect him, because he knows my Name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; *
I am
with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him to honor.
With long life will I satisfy him, *
and show him my
salvation.
It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD, *
and
to sing praises to your Name, O Most High;
To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning
*
and of your faithfulness in the night season;
On the psaltery, and on the lyre, *
and to the melody
of the harp.
For you have made me glad by your acts, O LORD; *
and
I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
LORD, how great are your works! *
your thoughts are
very deep.
The dullard does not know,
nor does the fool
understand, *
that though the wicked grow like weeds,
and all
the workers of iniquity flourish,
They flourish only to be destroyed for ever; *
but
you, O LORD, are exalted for evermore.
For lo, your enemies, O LORD,
lo, your enemies shall
perish, *
and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
But my horn you have exalted like the horns of wild
bulls; *
I am anointed with fresh oil.
My eyes also gloat over my enemies, *
and my ears
rejoice to hear the doom of the wicked who rise up against me.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, *
and
shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD *
shall
flourish in the courts of our God;
They shall still bear fruit in old age; *
they shall
be green and succulent;
That they may show how upright the LORD is, *
my
Rock, in whom there is no fault.
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 Letter to the Romans.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing.
Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor
on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
*
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his
Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every
generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has
scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and
has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the
rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for
he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and
his children for 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 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.
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies’ sake. Amen.
O God and Father of all, whom the whole heavens adore: Let the whole earth also worship you, all nations obey you, all tongues confess and bless you, and men and women everywhere love you and serve you in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayers and Intercessions
Let us pray now for our own needs and those of others.
Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. 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