Evening Prayer, Rite Two for Monday, September 08, 2025
September 08, 2025
Monday In The Week Of Proper 18
If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me, and the light around me turn to night,” darkness is not dark to you, O Lord; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to you are both alike.
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 44
We have heard with our ears, O God,
our forefathers have told us, *
the deeds you did in their days,
in the days of old.
How with your hand you drove the peoples out
and planted our forefathers in the land; *
how you destroyed nations and made your people flourish.
For they did not take the land by their sword,
nor did their arm win the victory for them; *
but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance,
because you favored them.
You are my King and my God; *
you command victories for Jacob.
Through you we pushed back our adversaries; *
through your Name we trampled on those who rose up against us.
For I do not rely on my bow, *
and my sword does not give me the victory.
Surely, you gave us victory over our adversaries *
and put those who hate us to shame.
Every day we gloried in God, *
and we will praise your Name for ever.
Nevertheless, you have rejected and humbled us *
and do not go forth with our armies.
You have made us fall back before our adversary, *
and our enemies have plundered us.
You have made us like sheep to be eaten *
and have scattered us among the nations.
You are selling your people for a trifle *
and are making no profit on the sale of them.
You have made us the scorn of our neighbors, *
a mockery and derision to those around us.
You have made us a byword among the nations, *
a laughing-stock among the peoples.
My humiliation is daily before me, *
and shame has covered my face;
Because of the taunts of the mockers and blasphemers, *
because of the enemy and avenger.
All this has come upon us; *
yet we have not forgotten you,
nor have we betrayed your covenant.
Our heart never turned back, *
nor did our footsteps stray from your path;
Though you thrust us down into a place of misery, *
and covered us over with deep darkness.
If we have forgotten the Name of our God, *
or stretched out our hands to some strange god,
Will not God find it out? *
for he knows the secrets of the heart.
Indeed, for your sake we are killed all the day long; *
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Awake, O Lord! why are you sleeping? *
Arise! do not reject us for ever.
Why have you hidden your face *
and forgotten our affliction and oppression?
We sink down into the dust; *
our body cleaves to the ground.
Rise up, and help us, *
and save us, for the sake of your steadfast love.
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
Job 32:1-10, 19-33:1, 19-28
Elihu Rebukes Job’s Friends
So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God; he was angry also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he. But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.
Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite answered:
“I am young in years,
and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to declare my opinion to you.
I said, ‘Let days speak,
and many years teach wisdom.’
But truly it is the spirit in a mortal,
the breath of the Almighty, that makes for understanding.
It is not the old that are wise,
nor the aged that understand what is right.
Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
let me also declare my opinion.’
Job Replies: I Know That My Redeemer Lives
Then Job answered:
“How long will you torment me,
and break me in pieces with words?
These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
are you not ashamed to wrong me?
And even if it is true that I have erred,
my error remains with me.
If indeed you magnify yourselves against me,
and make my humiliation an argument against me,
know then that God has put me in the wrong,
and closed his net around me.
Even when I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I am not answered;
I call aloud, but there is no justice.
He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
He has stripped my glory from me,
and taken the crown from my head.
He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,
he has uprooted my hope like a tree.
He has kindled his wrath against me,
and counts me as his adversary.
His troops come on together;
they have thrown up siegeworks against me,
and encamp around my tent.
“He has put my family far from me,
and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
My relatives and my close friends have failed me;
the guests in my house have forgotten me;
my serving girls count me as a stranger;
I have become an alien in their eyes.
I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
I must myself plead with him.
My breath is repulsive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
Even young children despise me;
when I rise, they talk against me.
All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I loved have turned against me.
My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!
Why do you, like God, pursue me,
never satisfied with my flesh?
“O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!
O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’
and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him’;
be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you may know there is a judgment.”
Zophar Speaks: Wickedness Receives Just Retribution
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
“Pay attention! My thoughts urge me to answer,
because of the agitation within me.
I hear censure that insults me,
and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.
Do you not know this from of old,
ever since mortals were placed on earth,
that the exulting of the wicked is short,
and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?
Even though they mount up high as the heavens,
and their head reaches to the clouds,
they will perish forever like their own dung;
those who have seen them will say, ‘Where are they?’
They will fly away like a dream, and not be found;
they will be chased away like a vision of the night.
The eye that saw them will see them no more,
nor will their place behold them any longer.
Their children will seek the favor of the poor,
and their hands will give back their wealth.
Their bodies, once full of youth,
will lie down in the dust with them.
“Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth,
though they hide it under their tongues,
though they are loath to let it go,
and hold it in their mouths,
yet their food is turned in their stomachs;
it is the venom of asps within them.
They swallow down riches and vomit them up again;
God casts them out of their bellies.
They will suck the poison of asps;
the tongue of a viper will kill them.
They will not look on the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and curds.
They will give back the fruit of their toil,
and will not swallow it down;
from the profit of their trading
they will get no enjoyment.
For they have crushed and abandoned the poor,
they have seized a house that they did not build.
“They knew no quiet in their bellies;
in their greed they let nothing escape.
There was nothing left after they had eaten;
therefore their prosperity will not endure.
In full sufficiency they will be in distress;
all the force of misery will come upon them.
To fill their belly to the full
God will send his fierce anger into them,
and rain it upon them as their food.
They will flee from an iron weapon;
a bronze arrow will strike them through.
It is drawn forth and comes out of their body,
and the glittering point comes out of their gall;
terrors come upon them.
Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures;
a fire fanned by no one will devour them;
what is left in their tent will be consumed.
The heavens will reveal their iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against them.
The possessions of their house will be carried away,
dragged off in the day of God’s wrath.
This is the portion of the wicked from God,
the heritage decreed for them by God.”
Job Replies: The Wicked Often Go Unpunished
Then Job answered:
“Listen carefully to my words,
and let this be your consolation.
Bear with me, and I will speak;
then after I have spoken, mock on.
As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals?
Why should I not be impatient?
Look at me, and be appalled,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.
When I think of it I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
Why do the wicked live on,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
Their children are established in their presence,
and their offspring before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.
Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and never miscarries.
They send out their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance around.
They sing to the tambourine and the lyre,
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
They say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We do not desire to know your ways.
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
Is not their prosperity indeed their own achievement?
The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does calamity come upon them?
How often does God distribute pains in his anger?
How often are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’
Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it.
Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
For what do they care for their household after them,
when the number of their months is cut off?
Will any teach God knowledge,
seeing that he judges those that are on high?
One dies in full prosperity,
being wholly at ease and secure,
his loins full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of good.
They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms cover them.
“Oh, I know your thoughts,
and your schemes to wrong me.
For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony,
that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity,
and are rescued in the day of wrath?
Who declares their way to their face,
and who repays them for what they have done?
When they are carried to the grave,
a watch is kept over their tomb.
The clods of the valley are sweet to them;
everyone will follow after,
and those who went before are innumerable.
How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”
Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
“Can a mortal be of use to God?
Can even the wisest be of service to him?
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous,
or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
Is it for your piety that he reproves you,
and enters into judgment with you?
Is not your wickedness great?
There is no end to your iniquities.
For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
You have given no water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
The powerful possess the land,
and the favored live in it.
You have sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.
Therefore snares are around you,
and sudden terror overwhelms you,
or darkness so that you cannot see;
a flood of water covers you.
“Is not God high in the heavens?
See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
Therefore you say, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through the deep darkness?
Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see,
and he walks on the dome of heaven.’
Will you keep to the old way
that the wicked have trod?
They were snatched away before their time;
their foundation was washed away by a flood.
They said to God, ‘Leave us alone,’
and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
Yet he filled their houses with good things—
but the plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
The righteous see it and are glad;
the innocent laugh them to scorn,
saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
and what they left, the fire has consumed.’
“Agree with God, and be at peace;
in this way good will come to you.
Receive instruction from his mouth,
and lay up his words in your heart.
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored,
if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,
if you treat gold like dust,
and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed,
and if the Almighty is your gold
and your precious silver,
then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and lift up your face to God.
You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
When others are humiliated, you say it is pride;
for he saves the humble.
He will deliver even those who are guilty;
they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Bitter
Then Job answered:
“Today also my complaint is bitter;
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his dwelling!
I would lay my case before him,
and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would learn what he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; but he would give heed to me.
There an upright person could reason with him,
and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.
“If I go forward, he is not there;
or backward, I cannot perceive him;
on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.
My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.
But he stands alone and who can dissuade him?
What he desires, that he does.
For he will complete what he appoints for me;
and many such things are in his mind.
Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
If only I could vanish in darkness,
and thick darkness would cover my face!
Job Complains of Violence on the Earth
“Why are times not kept by the Almighty,
and why do those who know him never see his days?
The wicked remove landmarks;
they seize flocks and pasture them.
They drive away the donkey of the orphan;
they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
They thrust the needy off the road;
the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
Like wild asses in the desert
they go out to their toil,
scavenging in the wasteland
food for their young.
They reap in a field not their own
and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
They lie all night naked, without clothing,
and have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the rain of the mountains,
and cling to the rock for want of shelter.
“There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast,
and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.
They go about naked, without clothing;
though hungry, they carry the sheaves;
between their terraces they press out oil;
they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.
From the city the dying groan,
and the throat of the wounded cries for help;
yet God pays no attention to their prayer.
“There are those who rebel against the light,
who are not acquainted with its ways,
and do not stay in its paths.
The murderer rises at dusk
to kill the poor and needy,
and in the night is like a thief.
The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,
saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
and he disguises his face.
In the dark they dig through houses;
by day they shut themselves up;
they do not know the light.
For deep darkness is morning to all of them;
for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
“Swift are they on the face of the waters;
their portion in the land is cursed;
no treader turns toward their vineyards.
Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
so does Sheol those who have sinned.
The womb forgets them;
the worm finds them sweet;
they are no longer remembered;
so wickedness is broken like a tree.
“They harm the childless woman,
and do no good to the widow.
Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
they rise up when they despair of life.
He gives them security, and they are supported;
his eyes are upon their ways.
They are exalted a little while, and then are gone;
they wither and fade like the mallow;
they are cut off like the heads of grain.
If it is not so, who will prove me a liar,
and show that there is nothing in what I say?”
Bildad Speaks: How Can a Mortal Be Righteous Before God?
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
“Dominion and fear are with God;
he makes peace in his high heaven.
Is there any number to his armies?
Upon whom does his light not arise?
How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?
If even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his sight,
how much less a mortal, who is a maggot,
and a human being, who is a worm!”
Job Replies: God’s Majesty Is Unsearchable
Then Job answered:
“How you have helped one who has no power!
How you have assisted the arm that has no strength!
How you have counseled one who has no wisdom,
and given much good advice!
With whose help have you uttered words,
and whose spirit has come forth from you?
The shades below tremble,
the waters and their inhabitants.
Sheol is naked before God,
and Abaddon has no covering.
He stretches out Zaphon over the void,
and hangs the earth upon nothing.
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
and the cloud is not torn open by them.
He covers the face of the full moon,
and spreads over it his cloud.
He has described a circle on the face of the waters,
at the boundary between light and darkness.
The pillars of heaven tremble,
and are astounded at his rebuke.
By his power he stilled the Sea;
by his understanding he struck down Rahab.
By his wind the heavens were made fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
These are indeed but the outskirts of his ways;
and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
Job Maintains His Integrity
Job again took up his discourse and said:
“As God lives, who has taken away my right,
and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
as long as my breath is in me
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
my lips will not speak falsehood,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
Far be it from me to say that you are right;
until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go;
my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
“May my enemy be like the wicked,
and may my opponent be like the unrighteous.
For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off,
when God takes away their lives?
Will God hear their cry
when trouble comes upon them?
Will they take delight in the Almighty?
Will they call upon God at all times?
I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
that which is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
All of you have seen it yourselves;
why then have you become altogether vain?
“This is the portion of the wicked with God,
and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:
If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
and their offspring have not enough to eat.
Those who survive them the pestilence buries,
and their widows make no lamentation.
Though they heap up silver like dust,
and pile up clothing like clay—
they may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
and the innocent will divide the silver.
They build their houses like nests,
like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.
They go to bed with wealth, but will do so no more;
they open their eyes, and it is gone.
Terrors overtake them like a flood;
in the night a whirlwind carries them off.
The east wind lifts them up and they are gone;
it sweeps them out of their place.
It hurls at them without pity;
they flee from its power in headlong flight.
It claps its hands at them,
and hisses at them from its place.
Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found
“Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold to be refined.
Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
Miners put an end to darkness,
and search out to the farthest bound
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
They open shafts in a valley away from human habitation;
they are forgotten by travelers,
they sway suspended, remote from people.
As for the earth, out of it comes bread;
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
Its stones are the place of sapphires,
and its dust contains gold.
“That path no bird of prey knows,
and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
The proud wild animals have not trodden it;
the lion has not passed over it.
“They put their hand to the flinty rock,
and overturn mountains by the roots.
They cut out channels in the rocks,
and their eyes see every precious thing.
The sources of the rivers they probe;
hidden things they bring to light.
“But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
Mortals do not know the way to it,
and it is not found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
It cannot be gotten for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.
Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.
The chrysolite of Ethiopia cannot compare with it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.
“Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
and concealed from the birds of the air.
Abaddon and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
“God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.
For he looks to the ends of the earth,
and sees everything under the heavens.
When he gave to the wind its weight,
and apportioned out the waters by measure;
when he made a decree for the rain,
and a way for the thunderbolt;
then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.
And he said to humankind,
‘Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.’”
Job Finishes His Defense
Job again took up his discourse and said:
“O that I were as in the months of old,
as in the days when God watched over me;
when his lamp shone over my head,
and by his light I walked through darkness;
when I was in my prime,
when the friendship of God was upon my tent;
when the Almighty was still with me,
when my children were around me;
when my steps were washed with milk,
and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
When I went out to the gate of the city,
when I took my seat in the square,
the young men saw me and withdrew,
and the aged rose up and stood;
the nobles refrained from talking,
and laid their hands on their mouths;
the voices of princes were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
When the ear heard, it commended me,
and when the eye saw, it approved;
because I delivered the poor who cried,
and the orphan who had no helper.
The blessing of the wretched came upon me,
and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and a turban.
I was eyes to the blind,
and feet to the lame.
I was a father to the needy,
and I championed the cause of the stranger.
I broke the fangs of the unrighteous,
and made them drop their prey from their teeth.
Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix;
my roots spread out to the waters,
with the dew all night on my branches;
my glory was fresh with me,
and my bow ever new in my hand.’
“They listened to me, and waited,
and kept silence for my counsel.
After I spoke they did not speak again,
and my word dropped upon them like dew.
They waited for me as for the rain;
they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
I smiled on them when they had no confidence;
and the light of my countenance they did not extinguish.
I chose their way, and sat as chief,
and I lived like a king among his troops,
like one who comforts mourners.
“But now they make sport of me,
those who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to set with the dogs of my flock.
What could I gain from the strength of their hands?
All their vigor is gone.
Through want and hard hunger
they gnaw the dry and desolate ground,
they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes,
and to warm themselves the roots of broom.
They are driven out from society;
people shout after them as after a thief.
In the gullies of wadis they must live,
in holes in the ground, and in the rocks.
Among the bushes they bray;
under the nettles they huddle together.
A senseless, disreputable brood,
they have been whipped out of the land.
“And now they mock me in song;
I am a byword to them.
They abhor me, they keep aloof from me;
they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.
Because God has loosed my bowstring and humbled me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.
On my right hand the rabble rise up;
they send me sprawling,
and build roads for my ruin.
They break up my path,
they promote my calamity;
no one restrains them.
As through a wide breach they come;
amid the crash they roll on.
Terrors are turned upon me;
my honor is pursued as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
“And now my soul is poured out within me;
days of affliction have taken hold of me.
The night racks my bones,
and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
With violence he seizes my garment;
he grasps me by the collar of my tunic.
He has cast me into the mire,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
I cry to you and you do not answer me;
I stand, and you merely look at me.
You have turned cruel to me;
with the might of your hand you persecute me.
You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it,
and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
I know that you will bring me to death,
and to the house appointed for all living.
“Surely one does not turn against the needy,
when in disaster they cry for help.
Did I not weep for those whose day was hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
But when I looked for good, evil came;
and when I waited for light, darkness came.
My inward parts are in turmoil, and are never still;
days of affliction come to meet me.
I go about in sunless gloom;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
I am a brother of jackals,
and a companion of ostriches.
My skin turns black and falls from me,
and my bones burn with heat.
My lyre is turned to mourning,
and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.
“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 neighbor’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 offense;
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.
“If I have made gold my trust,
or called fine gold my confidence;
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
or because my hand had gotten much;
if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,
and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand;
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I should have been false to God above.
“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook them—
I have not let my mouth sin
by asking for their lives with a curse—
if those of my tent ever said,
‘O that we might be sated with his flesh!’—
the stranger has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler—
if I have concealed my transgressions as others do,
by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
O that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me like a crown;
I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
“If my land has cried out against me,
and its furrows have wept together;
if I have eaten its yield without payment,
and caused the death of its owners;
let thorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
Elihu Rebukes Job’s Friends
So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God; he was angry also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he. But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.
Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite answered:
“I am young in years,
and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to declare my opinion to you.
I said, ‘Let days speak,
and many years teach wisdom.’
But truly it is the spirit in a mortal,
the breath of the Almighty, that makes for understanding.
It is not the old that are wise,
nor the aged that understand what is right.
Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
let me also declare my opinion.’
“See, I waited for your words,
I listened for your wise sayings,
while you searched out what to say.
I gave you my attention,
but there was in fact no one that confuted Job,
no one among you that answered his words.
Yet do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;
God may vanquish him, not a human.’
He has not directed his words against me,
and I will not answer him with your speeches.
“They are dismayed, they answer no more;
they have not a word to say.
And am I to wait, because they do not speak,
because they stand there, and answer no more?
I also will give my answer;
I also will declare my opinion.
For I am full of words;
the spirit within me constrains me.
My heart is indeed like wine that has no vent;
like new wineskins, it is ready to burst.
I must speak, so that I may find relief;
I must open my lips and answer.
I will not show partiality to any person
or use flattery toward anyone.
For I do not know how to flatter—
or my Maker would soon put an end to me!
Elihu Rebukes Job
“But now, hear my speech, O Job,
and listen to all my words.
They are also chastened with pain upon their beds,
and with continual strife in their bones,
so that their lives loathe bread,
and their appetites dainty food.
Their flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen;
and their bones, once invisible, now stick out.
Their souls draw near the Pit,
and their lives to those who bring death.
Then, if there should be for one of them an angel,
a mediator, one of a thousand,
one who declares a person upright,
and he is gracious to that person, and says,
‘Deliver him from going down into the Pit;
I have found a ransom;
let his flesh become fresh with youth;
let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;
then he prays to God, and is accepted by him,
he comes into his presence with joy,
and God repays him for his righteousness.
That person sings to others and says,
‘I sinned, and perverted what was right,
and it was not paid back to me.
He has redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
and my life shall see the light.’
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
8. The Song of Moses Cantemus Domino
I will sing to the Lord, for he is lofty and uplifted; *
the horse and its rider has he hurled into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my refuge; *
the Lord has become my Savior.
This is my God and I will praise him, *
the God of my people and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a mighty warrior; *
Yahweh is his Name.
The chariots of Pharaoh and his army has he hurled into the sea; *
the finest of those who bear armor have been drowned in the Red Sea.
The fathomless deep has overwhelmed them; *
they sank into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in might; *
your right hand, O Lord, has overthrown the enemy.
Who can be compared with you, O Lord, among the gods? *
who is like you, glorious in holiness,
awesome in renown, and worker of wonders?
You stretched forth your right hand; *
the earth swallowed them up.
With your constant love you led the people you redeemed; *
with your might you brought them in safety to your holy dwelling.
You will bring them in and plant them *
on the mount of your possession,
The resting-place you have made for yourself, O Lord, *
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hand has established.
The Lord shall reign *
for ever and for ever.
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.
Phil 1:1-11
Salutation
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
17. The Song of Simeon Nunc Dimittis
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.
The Apostles Creed
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.
The Prayers
- Officiant
- The Lord be with you.
- People
- And also with you.
- Officiant
- Let us pray.
The Lord's Prayer
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.
Suffrages A
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.
The Collect of the Day
Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as
you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength,
so you never forsake those who make their boast of your
mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
A Collect for Peace
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen.
A Prayer for Mission
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.
The General Thanksgiving
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.
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.