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 waited patiently upon the LORD; *
he stooped to me
and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire
and clay; *
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing
sure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to
our God; *
many shall see, and stand in awe,
and put their
trust in the LORD.
Happy are they who trust in the LORD! *
they do not
resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.
Great things are they that you have done, O LORD my
God!
how great your wonders and your plans for us! *
there is
none who can be compared with you.
Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! *
but
they are more than I can count.
In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure *
(you
have given me ears to hear you);
Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required,
*
and so I said, “Behold, I come.
In the roll of the book it is written concerning me:
*
‘I love to do your will, O my God;
your law is deep in
my heart.’”
I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation;
*
behold, I did not restrain my lips;
and that, O LORD, you
know.
Your righteousness have I not hidden in my heart;
I
have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance; *
I have
not concealed your love and faithfulness from the great congregation.
You are the LORD;
do not withhold your compassion
from me; *
let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe for
ever,
For innumerable troubles have crowded upon me;
my
sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see; *
they are more in
number than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; *
O LORD, make
haste to help me.
Let them be ashamed and altogether dismayed
who seek
after my life to destroy it; *
let them draw back and be disgraced
who take pleasure in my misfortune.
Let those who say “Aha!” and gloat over me
be confounded, *
because they are ashamed.
Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad; *
let
those who love your salvation continually say,
“Great is
the LORD!”
Though I am poor and afflicted, *
the Lord will have
regard for me.
You are my helper and my deliverer; *
do not tarry, O
my God.
Save me, O God, by your Name; *
in your might, defend
my cause.
Hear my prayer, O God; *
give ear to the words of my
mouth.
For the arrogant have risen up against me,
and the
ruthless have sought my life, *
those who have no regard for God.
Behold, God is my helper; *
it is the Lord who
sustains my life.
Render evil to those who spy on me; *
in your
faithfulness, destroy them.
I will offer you a freewill sacrifice *
and praise
your Name, O LORD, for it is good.
For you have rescued me from every trouble, *
and my
eye has seen the ruin of my foes.
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 Joshua.
Joshua summoned them, and said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ while in fact you are living among us? Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; so we were in great fear for our lives because of you, and did this thing. And now we are in your hand: do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.” This is what he did for them: he saved them from the Israelites; and they did not kill them. But on that day Joshua made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to continue to this day, in the place that he should choose.
When King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, he became greatly frightened, because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities, and was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent a message to King Hoham of Hebron, to King Piram of Jarmuth, to King Japhia of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon, saying, “Come up and help me, and let us attack Gibeon; for it has made peace with Joshua and with the Israelites.” Then the five kings of the Amorites—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon—gathered their forces, and went up with all their armies and camped against Gibeon, and made war against it. And the Gibeonites sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country are gathered against us.”
So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the fighting force with him, all the mighty warriors. The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have handed them over to you; not one of them shall stand before you.” So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who inflicted a great slaughter on them at Gibeon, chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled before Israel, while they were going down the slope of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down huge stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died because of the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword. On the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD; and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in mid-heaven, and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded a human voice; for the LORD fought for Israel.
Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Seek the Lord while he wills to be found; *
call upon
him when he draws near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways *
and the evil ones
their thoughts;
And let them turn to the Lord, and he will have
compassion, *
and to our God, for he will richly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, *
nor your
ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, *
so
are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your
thoughts.
For as rain and snow fall from the heavens *
and
return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth, *
seed for
sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth; *
it
will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed, *
and
prosper in that for which I sent it.
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 Matthew.
When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor. When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.” After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
The Word of the
Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Splendor and honor and kingly power *
are yours by
right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is, *
and by your
will they were created and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain, *
for with
your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation, *
a
kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne, *
and to
Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor, *
for
ever and for evermore.
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.
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; 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