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
The Psalter (First Set of Propers)
Psalm 39
The Thirty-Ninth Psalm
Dixi, Custodiam.
I SAID, I will take heed to my ways, * that I offend not in my tongue
I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle, * while the ungodly is in my sight.
I held my tongue, and spake nothing: * I kept silence, yea, even from good words; but it was pain and grief to me.
My heart was hot within me: and while I was thus musing the fire kindled, *and at the last I spake with my tongue:
LORD, let me know mine end, and the number of my days; * that I may be certified how long I have to live.
Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long, and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; * and verily every man living is altogether vanity.
For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; * he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.
And now, Lord, what is my hope? * truly my hope is even in thee.
Deliver me from all mine offences; * and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish.
I became dumb, and opened not my mouth; * for it was thy doing.
Take thy plague away from me: * I am even consumed by the means of thy heavy hand.
When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment: * every man therefore is but vanity.
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and with thine ears consider my calling; * hold not thy peace at my tears;
For I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, * as all my fathers were.
O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength, * before I go hence, and be no more seen.
The Psalter (Second Set of Propers)
Psalm 145
The One Hundred Forty Fifth Psalm
Exaltabo te, Deus.
I WILL magnify thee, O God, my King; * and I will praise thy Name for ever and ever.
Every day will I give thanks unto thee; * and praise thy Name for ever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and marvellous worthy to be praised; * there is no end of his greatness.
One generation shall praise thy works unto another, * and declare thy power.
As for me, I will be talking of thy worship, * thy glory, thy praise, and wondrous works;
So that men shall speak of the might of thy marvellous acts; * and I will also tell of thy greatness.
The memorial of thine abundant kindness shall be showed; * and men shall sing of thy righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and merciful; * long-suffering, and of great goodness.
The LORD is loving unto every man; * and his mercy is over all his works.
All thy works praise thee, O LORD; * and thy saints give thanks unto thee.
They show the glory of thy kingdom, * and talk of thy power;
That thy power, thy glory, and mightiness of thy kingdom, * might be known unto men.
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, * and thy dominion endureth throughout all ages.
The LORD upholdeth all such as fall, * and lifteth up all those that are down.
The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord; * and thou givest them their meat in due season.
Thou openest thine hand, * and fillest all things living with plenteousness.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways, * and holy in all his works.
The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him; * yea, all such as call upon him faithfully.
He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; * he also will hear their cry, and will help them.
The LORD preserveth all them that love him; * but scattereth abroad all the ungodly.
My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD; * and let all flesh give thanks unto his holy Name for ever and ever.
The First Lesson (First Set of Propers)
Jeremiah 4:23
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
The First Lesson (Second Set of Propers)
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
The Second Lesson (First Set of Propers)
St. Matthew 25:31
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
The Second Lesson (Second Set of Propers)
I Corinthians 11:17-32
Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
The Collect
Sunday Next before Advent
STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.