As Written in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer
Today is Wednesday, December 11, 2024
The liturgical color of the day is PURPLE
The Psalter
Psalm 47
The Forty-Seventh Psalm
Omnes gentes, plaudite.
O CLAP your hands together, all ye peoples: * O sing unto God with the voice of melody.
For the LORD is high, and to be feared; * he is the great King upon all the earth.
He shall subdue the peoples under us, * and the nations under our feet.
He shall choose out an heritage for us, * even the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved.
God is gone up with a merry noise, * and the LORD with the sound of the trump.
O sing praises, sing praises unto our God; * O sing praises, sing praises unto our King.
For God is the King of all the earth: * sing ye praises with understanding.
God reigneth over the nations; * God sitteth upon his holy seat.
The princes of the peoples are joined unto the people of the God of Abraham; * for God, which is very high exalted, doth defend the earth, as it were with a shield.Psalm 48
The Forty-Eighth Psalm
Magnus Dominus.
GREAT is the LORD, and highly to be praised * in the city of our God, even upon his holy hill.
The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth; * upon the north side lieth the city of the great King: God is well known in her palaces as a sure refuge.
For lo, the kings of the earth * were gathered, and gone by together.
They marvelled to see such things; * they were astonished, and suddenly cast down.
Fear came there upon them; and sorrow, * as upon a woman in her travail.
Thou dost break the ships of the sea * through the east-wind.
Like as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God; * God upholdeth the same for ever.
We wait for thy loving-kindness, O God, * in the midst of thy temple.
O God, according to thy Name, so is thy praise unto the world's end; * thy right hand is full of righteousness.
Let the mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Judah be glad, * because of thy judgments.
Walk about Sion, and go round about her; * and tell the towers thereof.
Mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, * that ye may tell them that come after.
For this God is our God for ever and ever: * he shall be our guide unto death.
The First Lesson
Deuteronomy 7:6-13
For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
The Second Lesson
St. Matthew 26:31-46
Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.
The Collect
Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity
O GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness; Be ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers of thy Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
All Saints
O ALMIGHTY God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord; Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love thee; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.