29th December 2025 Evening Prayer

The Psalter

Psalm 20

Exaudiat te Dominus

THE LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; * the Name of the God of Jacob defend thee:

Send thee help from the sanctuary, * and strengthen thee out of Sion:

Remember all thy offerings, * and accept thy burnt sacrifice:

Grant thee thy heart's desire, * and fulfil all thy mind.

We will rejoice in thy salvation, and triumph in the Name of the Lord our God: * the LORD perform all thy petitions.

Now know I that the LORD helpeth his anointed, and will hear him from his holy heaven, * even with the wholesome strength of his right hand.

Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses; * but we will remember the Name of the LORD our God.

They are brought down and fallen; * but we are risen and stand upright.

Save, LORD; and hear us, O King of heaven, * when we call upon thee.

Psalm 21

Domine, in virtute tua

THE King shall rejoice in thy strength, O LORD; * exceeding glad shall he be of thy salvation.

Thou hast given him his heart's desire, * and hast not denied him the request of his lips.

For thou shalt meet him with the blessings of goodness, * and shalt set a crown of pure gold upon his head.

He asked life of thee; and thou gavest him a long life, * even for ever and ever.

His honour is great in thy salvation; * glory and great worship shalt thou lay upon him.

For thou shalt give him everlasting felicity, * and make him glad with the joy of thy countenance.

The First Lesson

Isa57:13-

When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.

I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.

I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him.

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

The Second Lesson

Heb1:1-

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birthday of Christ, commonly called Christmas Day.

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.