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Third Sunday in Advent

EVENING

12.14.2025

Our Father, whichwho art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done inon earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them thatthose 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.

O Lord, open thou our lips.

And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.

O God, make speed to save us.

O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Praise ye the Lord.

The Lord's Name be praised.

—   ✤   —

Ps. 73.

Truly God is loving unto Israel: even unto such as are of a clean heart.
Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone; my treadings had well-nigh slipt.
And why? I was grieved at the wicked: I do also see the ungodly in such prosperity.
For they are in no peril of death, but are lusty and strong.
They come in no misfortune like other folk; neither are they plagued like other men.
And this is the cause that they are so holden with pride, and overwhelmed with cruelty.
Their eyes swell with fatness, and they do even what they lust.
They corrupt other, and speak of wicked blasphemy; their talking is against the most High.
For they stretch forth their mouth unto the heaven, and their tongue goeth through the world.
Therefore fall the people unto them, and thereout suck they no small advantage.
Tush, say they, how should God perceive it? is there knowledge in the most High?
Lo, these are the ungodly, these prosper in the world, and these have riches in possession: and I said, Then have I cleansed my heart in vain, and washed mine hands in innocency.
All the day long have I been punished, and chastened every morning.
Yea, and I had almost said even as they: but lo, then I should have condemned the generation of thy children.
Then thought I to understand this; but it was too hard for me,
Until I went into the sanctuary of God: then understood I the end of these men;
Namely, how thou dost set them in slippery places, and castest them down, and destroyest them.
O how suddenly do they consume, perish, and come to a fearful end!
Yea, even like as a dream when one awaketh, so shalt thou make their image to vanish out of the city.
Thus my heart was grieved, and it went even through my reins.
So foolish was I, and ignorant, even as it were a beast before thee.
Nevertheless, I am alway by thee, for thou hast holden me by my right hand.
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel; and after that receive me with glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
For lo, they that forsake thee shall perish; thou hast destroyed all them that commit fornication against thee.
But it is good for me to hold me fast by God, to put my trust in the Lord God: and to speak of all thy works in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ps. 74.

O God, wherefore art thou absent from us so long? why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture?
O think upon thy congregation, whom thou hast purchased and redeemed of old.
Think upon the tribe of thine inheritance, and Mount Sion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
Lift up thy feet, that thou mayest utterly destroy every enemy, which hath done evil in thy sanctuary.
Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy congregations, and set up their banners for tokens.
He that hewed timber afore out of the thick trees, was known to bring it to an excellent work.
But now they break down all the carved work thereof with axes and hammers.
They have set fire upon thy holy places, and have defiled the dwellingplace of thy Name, even unto the ground.
Yea, they said in their hearts, Let us make havock of them altogether: thus have they burnt up all the houses of God in the land.
We see not our tokens, there is not one prophet more; no, not one is there among us, that understandeth any more.
O God, how long shall the adversary do this dishonour? how long shall the enemy blaspheme thy Name, for ever?
Why withdrawest thou thy hand? why pluckest thou not thy right hand out of thy bosom to consume the enemy?
For God is my King of old; the help that is done upon earth he doeth it himself.
Thou didst divide the sea through thy power; thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Thou smotest the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat for the people in the wilderness.
Thou broughtest out fountains and waters out of the hard rocks; thou driedst up mighty waters.
The day is thine, and the night is thine; thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter.
Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy hath rebuked; and how the foolish people hath blasphemed thy Name.
O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the enemies; and forget not the congregation of the poor for ever.
Look upon the covenant; for all the earth is full of darkness and cruel habitations.
O let not the simple go away ashamed; but let the poor and needy give praise unto thy Name.
Arise, O God, maintain thine own cause; remember how the foolish man blasphemeth thee daily.
Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the presumption of them that hate thee increaseth ever more and more.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Here beginneth the 26th chapter of Isaiah.
In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.
The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.
Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord.
We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Here endeth the first lesson.

My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth

all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath magnified me;

and holy is his Name.

And his mercy is on them that fear him

throughout all generations.

He hath showed strength with his arm;

he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat,

and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things;

and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He remembering his mercy, hath holpen his servant Israel;

as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

Glory be to the Father,

and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning,

is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Here beginneth the 2nd chapter of 1 Peter.
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Here endeth the second lesson.

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Glory be to the Father,

and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning,

is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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O Lord Jesu Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; Grant that the Ministers and Stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; that at thy second coming to judge the world, we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed; Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies, may pass our time in rest and quietness, through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night, for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.