Evening Prayer (Evensong) in Contemporary Language

¶ Evening Prayer
Easter Season
Thursday, 18 April 2024

Preparation

O God, make speed to save us.
AllO Lord, make haste to help us.

In your resurrection, O Christ,
Alllet heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.

One or more of the following is said or sung:

this or another prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign Lord,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
From the deep waters of death
you brought your people to new birth
by raising your Son to life in triumph.
Through him dark death has been destroyed
and radiant life is everywhere restored.
As you call us out of darkness into his marvellous light
may our lives reflect his glory
and our lips repeat the endless song.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.

A Song of David (page 573), the following or another suitable hymn

Ye choirs of new Jerusalem,
your sweetest notes employ,
the Paschal victory to hymn
in strains of holy joy.

How Judah’s lion burst his chains
and crushed the serpent’s head;
and brought with him, from death’s domains,
the long-imprisoned dead.

Triumphant in his glory now
his sceptre ruleth all,
earth, heaven, and hell before him bow,
and at his footstool fall.

While joyful thus his praise we sing,
his mercy we implore,
into his palace bright to bring
and keep us evermore.

All glory to the Father be,
all glory to the Son,
all glory, Holy Ghost, to thee,
while endless ages run. Alleluia, Amen.

Fulbert of Chartres, tr: Robert Campbell
(Tune: CM)

This opening prayer may be said

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Word of God

Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.

Psalm 73

Refrain: In the Lord God have I made my refuge.

1 Truly, God is loving to Israel, ♦
to those who are pure in heart.

2 Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone; ♦
my steps had well-nigh slipped.

3 For I was envious of the proud; ♦
I saw the wicked in such prosperity;

4 For they suffer no pains ♦
and their bodies are sleek and sound;

5 They come to no misfortune like other folk; ♦
nor are they plagued as others are;

6 Therefore pride is their necklace ♦
and violence wraps them like a cloak.

7 Their iniquity comes from within; ♦
the conceits of their hearts overflow. R

8 They scoff, and speak only of evil; ♦
they talk of oppression from on high.

9 They set their mouth against the heavens, ♦
and their tongue ranges round the earth;

10 And so the people turn to them ♦
and find in them no fault.

11 They say, ‘How should God know? ♦
Is there knowledge in the Most High?’

12 Behold, these are the wicked; ♦
ever at ease, they increase their wealth.

13 Is it in vain that I cleansed my heart ♦
and washed my hands in innocence?

14 All day long have I been stricken ♦
and chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, ‘I will speak as they do,’ ♦
I should have betrayed the generation of your children. R

16 Then thought I to understand this, ♦
but it was too hard for me,

17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God ♦
and understood the end of the wicked:

18 How you set them in slippery places; ♦
you cast them down to destruction.

19 How suddenly do they come to destruction, ♦
perish and come to a fearful end!

20 As with a dream when one awakes, ♦
so, Lord, when you arise you will despise their image.

21 When my heart became embittered ♦
and I was pierced to the quick,

22 I was but foolish and ignorant; ♦
I was like a brute beast in your presence. R

23 Yet I am always with you; ♦
you hold me by my right hand.

24 You will guide me with your counsel ♦
and afterwards receive me with glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you? ♦
And there is nothing upon earth that I desire
in comparison with you.

26 Though my flesh and my heart fail me, ♦
God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

27 Truly, those who forsake you will perish; ♦
you will put to silence the faithless who betray you.

28 But it is good for me to draw near to God; ♦
in the Lord God have I made my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

Refrain: In the Lord God have I made my refuge.

Holy God,
may we find wisdom in your presence
and set our hope not on uncertain riches
but on the love that holds us to the end;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Each psalm or group of psalms may end with

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.

Deuteronomy 7.1-11

When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, and he clears away many nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations mightier and more numerous than you—and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them. Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for that would turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. But this is how you must deal with them: break down their altars, smash their pillars, hew down their sacred poles, and burn their idols with fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and who repays in their own person those who reject him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him. Therefore, observe diligently the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that I am commanding you today.

Canticle

A Song of Faith, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 60 (page 618) or number 74 (page 632), may be said

Refrain:

AllGod raised Christ from the dead,
the Lamb without spot or stain. Alleluia.

1Blessed be the God and Father ♦
of our Lord Jesus Christ!

2By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope ♦
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

3Into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, ♦
kept in heaven for you,

4Who are being protected by the power of God through faith, ♦
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

5You were ransomed from the futile ways of your ancestors ♦
not with perishable things like silver or gold

6But with the precious blood of Christ ♦
like that of a lamb without spot or stain.

7Through him you have confidence in God,
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, ♦
so that your faith and hope are set on God.

1 Peter 1.3-5, 18, 19, 21

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

AllGod raised Christ from the dead,
the Lamb without spot or stain. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

Ephesians 2.11-end

So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by those who are called ‘the circumcision’—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands—remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

The Lord is my strength and my song:
he has become my salvation.
AllThe Lord is my strength and my song:
he has become my salvation.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the Lord.
AllHe has become my salvation.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
AllThe Lord is my strength and my song:
he has become my salvation.

from Psalm 118

Gospel Canticle

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said,
or Great and Wonderful (page 629) may be said

Refrain:

AllThe stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone. Alleluia.

1My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; ♦
he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

2From this day all generations will call me blessed; ♦
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his name.

3He has mercy on those who fear him, ♦
from generation to generation.

4He has shown strength with his arm ♦
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,

5Casting down the mighty from their thrones ♦
and lifting up the lowly.

6He has filled the hungry with good things ♦
and sent the rich away empty.

7He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, ♦
to remember his promise of mercy,

8The promise made to our ancestors, ♦
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Luke 1.46-55

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

Refrain:

AllThe stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone. Alleluia.

Prayers

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offered
¶ for peace
¶ for individuals and their needs

Prayers may include the following concerns from the cycle on pages 364–365

¶ The people of God, that they may proclaim the risen Lord
¶ God’s creation, that the peoples of the earth may meet their responsibility to care
¶ Those in despair and darkness, that they may find the hope and light of Christ
¶ Those in fear of death, that they may find faith through the resurrection
¶ Prisoners and captives

A form of prayer found on page 382 may be used.

These responses may be used

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer

(or)

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Silence may be kept.

The Collect of the day is said

Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
      with the sight of the risen Lord:
give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said

Rejoicing in God’s new creation,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

AllOur Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

(or)

Rejoicing in God’s new creation,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

AllOur Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Conclusion

May the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
AllAmen.

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
AllThanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.