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.
Give the King your
justice, O God, *
and your righteousness to the King’s son;
That he may rule
your people righteously *
and the poor with justice.
That the mountains
may bring prosperity to the people, *
and the little hills bring
righteousness.
He shall defend the
needy among the people; *
he shall rescue the poor and crush the
oppressor.
He shall live as
long as the sun and moon endure, *
from one generation to another.
He shall come down
like rain upon the mown field, *
like showers that water the
earth.
In his time shall
the righteous flourish; *
there shall be abundance of peace till
the moon shall be no more.
He shall rule from
sea to sea, *
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
His foes shall bow
down before him, *
and his enemies lick the dust.
The kings of
Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute, *
and the kings of
Arabia and Saba offer gifts.
All kings shall bow
down before him, *
and all the nations do him service.
For he shall deliver
the poor who cries out in distress, *
and the oppressed who has no
helper.
He shall have pity
on the lowly and poor; *
he shall preserve the lives of the needy.
He shall redeem
their lives from oppression and violence, *
and dear shall their
blood be in his sight.
Long 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.
May 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.
May 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.
Blessed be the Lord
GOD, the God of Israel, *
who alone does wondrous deeds!
And 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.
A Reading from the Book of Genesis.
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the LORD stood beside him and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you.”
The
Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Glorify the Lord,
all you works of the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for
ever.
In the firmament of
his power, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for
ever.
Glorify the Lord,
you angels and all powers of the Lord, *
O heavens and all waters
above the heavens.
Sun and moon and
stars of the sky, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt
him for ever.
Glorify the Lord,
every shower of rain and fall of dew, *
all winds and fire and
heat.
Winter and Summer,
glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O
chill and cold, *
drops of dew and flakes of snow
Frost and cold, ice
and sleet, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for
ever.
Glorify the Lord, O
nights and days, *
O shining light and enfolding dark.
Storm clouds and
thunderbolts, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him
for ever.
Let the earth
glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O
mountains and hills,
and all that grows upon the earth, *
praise
him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O
springs of water, seas, and streams, *
O whales and all that move
in the waters.
All birds of the
air, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O
beasts of the wild, *
and all you flocks and herds.
O men and women
everywhere, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him
for ever.
Let the people of
God glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O
priests and servants of the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt
him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O
spirits and souls of the righteous, *
praise him and highly exalt
him for ever.
You that are holy
and humble of heart, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly
exalt him for ever.
Let us glorify the
Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; *
praise him and highly exalt
him for ever.
In the firmament of
his power, glorify the Lord, *
praise him and highly exalt him for
ever.
A Reading from the Letter to the Ephesians.
Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ! For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
The
Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Lord, you now have
set your servant free *
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of
mine have seen the Savior, *
whom you have prepared for all the
world to see:
A Light to enlighten
the nations, *
and the glory of your people Israel.
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.
That
this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful.
We entreat you, O
Lord.
That
your holy angels may lead us in paths of peace and goodwill,
We
entreat you, O Lord.
That
we may be pardoned and forgiven for our sins and offenses,
We
entreat you, O Lord.
That
there may be peace to your Church and to the whole world,
We
entreat you, O Lord.
That
we may depart this life in your faith and fear, and not be condemned
before the great judgment seat of Christ,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That
we may be bound together by your Holy Spirit in the communion of all
your saints, entrusting one another and all our life to Christ,
We
entreat you, O Lord.
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. 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.
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.
Then may be said
Let
us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The Officiant may then conclude with one of the following
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