Evening Prayer, Rite Two for Wednesday, December 17, 2025

December 17, 2025

Wednesday In The Week Of 3 Advent

Psalm 74:15, 16

Yours is the day, O God, yours also the night; you established the moon and the sun. You fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.

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 49

Hear this, all you peoples;

hearken, all you who dwell in the world, *

you of high degree and low, rich and poor together.

My mouth shall speak of wisdom, *

and my heart shall meditate on understanding.

I will incline my ear to a proverb *

and set forth my riddle upon the harp.

Why should I be afraid in evil days, *

when the wickedness of those at my heels surrounds me,

The wickedness of those who put their trust in their goods, *

and boast of their great riches?

We can never ransom ourselves, *

or deliver to God the price of our life;

For the ransom of our life is so great, *

that we should never have enough to pay it,

In order to live for ever and ever, *

and never see the grave.

For we see that the wise die also;

like the dull and stupid they perish *

and leave their wealth to those who come after them.

Their graves shall be their homes for ever,

their dwelling places from generation to generation, *

though they call the lands after their own names.

Even though honored, they cannot live for ever; *

they are like the beasts that perish.

Such is the way of those who foolishly trust in themselves, *

and the end of those who delight in their own words.

Like a flock of sheep they are destined to die;

Death is their shepherd; *

they go down straightway to the grave.

Their form shall waste away, *

and the land of the dead shall be their home.

But God will ransom my life; *

he will snatch me from the grasp of death.

Do not be envious when some become rich, *

or when the grandeur of their house increases;

For they will carry nothing away at their death, *

nor will their grandeur follow them.

Though they thought highly of themselves while they lived, *

and were praised for their success,

They shall join the company of their forebears, *

who will never see the light again.

Those who are honored, but have no understanding, *

are like the beasts that perish.

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 53

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." *

All are corrupt and commit abominable acts;

there is none who does any good.

God looks down from heaven upon us all, *

to see if there is any who is wise,

if there is one who seeks after God.

Every one has proved faithless;

all alike have turned bad; *

there is none who does good; no, not one.

Have they no knowledge, those evildoers *

who eat up my people like bread

and do not call upon God?

See how greatly they tremble,

such trembling as never was; *

for God has scattered the bones of the enemy;

they are put to shame, because God has rejected them.

Oh, that Israel's deliverance would come out of Zion! *

when God restores the fortunes of his people

Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.

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

Isa 9:8-17

Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression

The Lord sent a word against Jacob,
    and it fell on Israel;
and all the people knew it—
    Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—
    but in pride and arrogance of heart they said:
“The bricks have fallen,
    but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
    but we will put cedars in their place.”
So the Lord raised adversaries against them,
    and stirred up their enemies,
the Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west,
    and they devoured Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away;
    his hand is stretched out still.

The people did not turn to him who struck them,
    or seek the Lord of hosts.
So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
    palm branch and reed in one day—
elders and dignitaries are the head,
    and prophets who teach lies are the tail;
for those who led this people led them astray,
    and those who were led by them were left in confusion.
That is why the Lord did not have pity on their young people,
    or compassion on their orphans and widows;
for everyone was godless and an evildoer,
    and every mouth spoke folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away;
    his hand is stretched out still.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.