Evening Prayer, Rite Two for Wednesday, February 12, 2025

February 12, 2025

Wednesday In The Week Of 5 Epiphany

Amos 5:8

Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth: The Lord is his name.

Confession of Sin

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

Invitatory and Psalter

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 Phos hilaron

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.

The Psalm or Psalms Appointed

Psalm 81

Sing with joy to God our strength *

and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

Raise a song and sound the timbrel, *

the merry harp, and the lyre.

Blow the ram's-horn at the new moon, *

and at the full moon, the day of our feast.

For this is a statute for Israel, *

a law of the God of Jacob.

He laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph, *

when he came out of the land of Egypt.

I heard an unfamiliar voice saying, *

"I eased his shoulder from the burden;

his hands were set free from bearing the load."

You called on me in trouble, and I saved you; *

I answered you from the secret place of thunder

and tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: *

O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

There shall be no strange god among you; *

you shall not worship a foreign god.

I am the LORD your God,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, *

"Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."

And yet my people did not hear my voice, *

and Israel would not obey me.

So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, *

to follow their own devices.

Oh, that my people would listen to me! *

that Israel would walk in my ways!

I should soon subdue their enemies *

and turn my hand against their foes.

Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, *

and their punishment would last for ever.

But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *

and satisfy him with honey from the rock.

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.

Psalm 82

God takes his stand in the council of heaven; *

he gives judgment in the midst of the gods:

"How long will you judge unjustly, *

and show favor to the wicked?

Save the weak and the orphan; *

defend the humble and needy;

Rescue the weak and the poor; *

deliver them from the power of the wicked.

They do not know, neither do they understand;

they go about in darkness; *

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Now I say to you, 'You are gods, *

and all of you children of the Most High;

Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, *

and fall like any prince.'"

Arise, O God, and rule the earth, *

for you shall take all nations for your own.

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.

The Lessons

Gen 27:1-29

Isaac Blesses Jacob

When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “See, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me. Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the Lord before I die.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you. Go to the flock, and get me two choice kids, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he likes; and you shall take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me.” So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob; and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed the savory food, and the bread that she had prepared, to her son Jacob.

So he went in to his father, and said, “My father”; and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.” But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said,

“Ah, the smell of my son
    is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.
May God give you of the dew of heaven,
    and of the fatness of the earth,
    and plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you,
    and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
    and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
    and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.