Thursday after Pentecost 13
O 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 shall be for ever.
Amen.
PSALMODY
Antiphon: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;* your dominion endures throughout all ages. (Ps. 145.13)
Opening
VENITE
1 O come let us sing out to the Lord,*
let us shout in triumph to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his face with thanksgiving*
and cry out to him joyfully in psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God,*
and a great king above all gods.
4 In his hands are the depths of the earth,*
and the peaks of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his and he made it;*
his hands moulded dry land.
6 Come let us worship and bow down,*
and kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he himself is our God;*
we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Today if only you would hear his voice:*
‘Do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness;
9 when your fathers tested me;*
put me to proof though they had seen my works.
10 Of whom I swore in my wrath:*
“They shall not enter my rest.”’
Glory to the Father… (may be said by all)
or (from Psalm 145)
1 I will exalt you, O God my king,*
and bless your name for ever and ever.
2 All your works praise you, O Lord,*
and your faithful servants bless you.
3 They make known the glory of your kingdom*
and speak of your power;
4 that the peoples may know of your power*
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
Glory to the Father…
or a suitable hymn
Psalm 106 Part I
1 Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,*
for his mercy endures for ever.
2 Who can declare the mighty acts of the Lord*
or show forth all his praise?
3 Happy are those who act with justice*
and always do what is right!
4 Remember me, O Lord, with the favour you have
for your people,*
and visit me with your saving help;
5 That I may see the prosperity of your elect
and be glad with the gladness of your people,*
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 We have sinned as our forebears did;*
we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.
7 In Egypt they did not consider your marvellous works,
nor remember the abundance of your love;*
they defied the Most High at the Red Sea.
8 But he saved them for his name’s sake,*
to make his power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up,*
and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of those who hated them*
and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their oppressors;*
not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed his words*
and sang him songs of praise.
13 But they soon forgot his deeds*
and did not wait for his counsel.
14 A craving seized them in the wilderness,*
and they put God to the test in the desert.
15 He gave them what they asked,*
but sent leanness into their soul.
16 They envied Moses in the camp,*
and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
17 The earth opened and swallowed Dathan*
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 Fire blazed up against their company,*
and flames devoured the wicked.
Conclusion (Isaiah 40)
1 The Lord is the everlasting God,*
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
2 who does not faint nor grow weary,*
whose understanding is unsearchable,
3 who gives power to the faint,*
increase of strength to those who have no might.
4 Even youth shall faint and be weary;*
the young shall fall exhausted.
5 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;*
they shall mount up with wings like eagles.
6 They shall run and not be weary,*
they shall walk and not faint.
Glory to the Father…
Antiphon: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
Your dominion endures throughout all ages.
READING(S)
Job 29:1; 31:1-23
Job again took up his discourse and said:
‘I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I look upon a virgin?
What would be my portion from God above,
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
Does not calamity befall the unrighteous,
and disaster the workers of iniquity?
Does he not see my ways,
and number all my steps?
‘If I have walked with falsehood,
and my foot has hurried to deceit—
let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!—
if my step has turned aside from the way,
and my heart has followed my eyes,
and if any spot has clung to my hands;
then let me sow, and another eat;
and let what grows for me be rooted out.
‘If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbour’s door;
then let my wife grind for another,
and let other men kneel over her.
For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be a criminal offence;
for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my harvest.
‘If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves,
when they brought a complaint against me;
what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
‘If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the orphan has not eaten from it—
for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor person without covering,
whose loins have not blessed me,
and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
if I have raised my hand against the orphan,
because I saw I had supporters at the gate;
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.
Acts 15:1-11
Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.’
The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’
Silence
Response (Ps. 86.12)
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
I will glorify your name for evermore.
With all my heart.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
BENEDICTUS
Benedictus Antiphon: God has come to us* and set us free.
1 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,*
for he has come to his people and set them free.
2 He has raised up for us a mighty saviour,*
born of the house of his servant David.
3 Through his holy prophets he promised of old*
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us.
4 He promised to show mercy to our forebears,*
and to remember his holy covenant.
5 This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:*
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
6 free to worship him without fear,*
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
7 You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High,*
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
8 to give his people knowledge of salvation*
by the forgiveness of all their sins.
9 In the tender compassion of our God*
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
10 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… (may be said by all)
PRAYERS
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
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.
Do not bring us to to the time of trial,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.
Collect of the Day
Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people, that richly bearing the fruit of good works, we may by you be richly rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
(A suitable hymn)
God most holy, we give you thanks for bringing us out of the shadow of night into the light of morning; and we ask you for the joy of spending this day in your service, so that when evening comes, we may once more give you thanks, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord:
Thanks be to God!
The Lord bless us and preserve us from all evil;
and bring us to life eternal.
Amen.
