Evening Prayer (Evensong) in Contemporary Language

¶ Evening Prayer on Sunday
Sunday, 5 February 2012
The Third Sunday before Lent

Preparation

O God, make speed to save us.
AllO Lord, make haste to help us.

One or more of the following is said or sung:
a prayer of thanksgiving (page 110),
a suitable hymn,
or A Song of Worship

1Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, •
you that by night stand in the house of the Lord.

2Lift up your hands towards the sanctuary •
and bless the Lord.

3The Lord who made heaven and earth •
give you blessing out of Zion.

Psalm 134

AllGlory 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.

This opening prayer may be said

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Word of God

Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.

Psalm 5

Refrain: You, O Lord, will bless the righteous.

1 Give ear to my words, O Lord; •
consider my lamentation.

2 Hearken to the voice of my crying, my King and my God, •
for to you I make my prayer.

3 In the morning, Lord, you will hear my voice; •
early in the morning I make my appeal to you, and look up.

4 For you are the God who takes no pleasure in wickedness; •
no evil can dwell with you. R

5 The boastful cannot stand in your sight; •
you hate all those that work wickedness.

6 You destroy those who speak lies; •
the bloodthirsty and deceitful the Lord will abhor.

7 But as for me, through the greatness of your mercy,
I will come into your house; •
I will bow down towards your holy temple in awe of you. R

8 Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness,
because of my enemies; •
make your way straight before my face.

9 For there is no truth in their mouth,
in their heart is destruction, •
their throat is an open sepulchre,
and they flatter with their tongue.

10 Punish them, O God; •
let them fall through their own devices.

11 Because of their many transgressions cast them out, •
for they have rebelled against you. R

12 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; •
let them sing out their joy for ever.

13 You will shelter them, •
so that those who love your name may exult in you.

14 For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous; •
and with your favour you will defend them as with a shield.

Refrain: You, O Lord, will bless the righteous.

Lord, protect us from the deceit
of flattering tongues and lying lips;
give us words of life which speak your truth
and bless your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Each psalm or group of psalms may end with

AllGlory 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.

If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.

Canticle

A Song of the Lamb, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 62 (page 620) or number 74 (page 632), may be said

Refrain:

AllLet us rejoice and exult
and give glory and homage to our God.

1Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, •
whose judgements are true and just.

2Praise our God, all you his servants, •
all who fear him, both small and great.

3The Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns: •
let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.

4For the marriage of the Lamb has come •
and his bride has made herself ready.

5Blessed are those who are invited •
to the wedding banquet of the Lamb.

Revelation 19.1b, 2a, 5b, 6b, 7, 9b

AllTo the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb •
be blessing and honour and glory and might,
for ever and ever. Amen.

AllLet us rejoice and exult
and give glory and homage to our God.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

Numbers 13.1-2,27-33

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites; from each of their ancestral tribes you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.’ And they told him, ‘We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the land of the Negeb; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea, and along the Jordan.’

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.’ Then the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we are.’ So they brought to the Israelites an unfavourable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, ‘The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.’

Philippians 2.12-28

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labour in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you—and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you. I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But Timothy’s worth you know, how like a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things go with me; and I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon.

Still, I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus—my brother and co-worker and fellow-soldier, your messenger and minister to my need; for he has been longing for all of you, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, in order that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
the Lord is the strength of my life.
AllThe Lord is my light and my salvation;
the Lord is the strength of my life.
The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness has not overcome it.
AllThe Lord is the strength of my life.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllThe Lord is my light and my salvation;
the Lord is the strength of my life.

from Psalm 27 and John 1

Gospel Canticle

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said,
or the Nunc dimittis (The Song of Simeon) (page 613) may be said

Refrain:

AllYou have done great things, O God,
and holy is your name.

1My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; •
he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

2From this day all generations will call me blessed; •
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his name.

3He has mercy on those who fear him, •
from generation to generation.

4He has shown strength with his arm •
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,

5Casting down the mighty from their thrones •
and lifting up the lowly.

6He has filled the hungry with good things •
and sent the rich away empty.

7He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, •
to remember his promise of mercy,

8The promise made to our ancestors, •
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Luke 1.46-55

AllGlory 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.

Refrain:

AllYou have done great things, O God,
and holy is your name.

Prayers

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offered
¶ for peace
¶ for individuals and their needs

The cycle on pages 364–365 and the prayer on page 377 may be used.

These responses may be used

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer

(or)

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Silence may be kept.

The Collect of the day is said

Almighty God,
who alone can bring order
to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity:
give your people grace
so to love what you command
and to desire what you promise,
that, among the many changes of this world,
our hearts may surely there be fixed
where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray

AllOur 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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

(or)

Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

AllOur 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,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Conclusion

All 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.

Let us bless the Lord.
AllThanks be to God.

© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2005
All of the official Common Worship publications are available from Church House Publishing.
 
The Bible readings (other than the psalms) are from The New Revised Standard Version Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.