Collect of the Day

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.

The Psalter

Psalm 37 Part I Noli æmulari

1 Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; *
do not be jealous of those who do wrong.

2 For they shall soon wither like the grass, *
and like the green grass fade away.

3 Put your trust in the Lord and do good; *
dwell in the land and feed on its riches.

4 Take delight in the Lord, *
and he shall give you your heart's desire.

5 Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, *
and he will bring it to pass.

6 He will make your righteousness as clear as the light *
and your just dealing as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord *
and wait patiently for him.

8 Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, *
the one who succeeds in evil schemes.

9 Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; *
do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.

10 For evildoers shall be cut off, *
but those who wait upon the Lord shall possess the land.

11 In a little while the wicked shall be no more; *
you shall search out their place, but they will not be there.

12 But the lowly shall possess the land; *
they will delight in abundance of peace.

13 The wicked plot against the righteous *
and gnash at them with their teeth.

14 The Lord laughs at the wicked, *
because he sees that their day will come.

15 The wicked draw their sword and bend their bow
to strike down the poor and needy, *
to slaughter those who are upright in their ways.

16 Their sword shall go through their own heart, *
and their bow shall be broken.

17 The little that the righteous has *
is better than great riches of the wicked.

18 For the power of the wicked shall be broken, *
but the Lord upholds the righteous.

The First Reading

Habakkuk 3:1-18

A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk according to Shigionoth. 

O Lord, I have heard of your renown,
   and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work.
In our own time revive it;
   in our own time make it known;
   in wrath may you remember mercy. 
God came from Teman,
   the Holy One from Mount Paran.
          Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
   and the earth was full of his praise. 
The brightness was like the sun;
   rays came forth from his hand,
   where his power lay hidden. 
Before him went pestilence,
   and plague followed close behind. 
He stopped and shook the earth;
   he looked and made the nations tremble.
The eternal mountains were shattered;
   along his ancient pathways
   the everlasting hills sank low. 
I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction;
   the tent-curtains of the land of Midian trembled. 
Was your wrath against the rivers,^* O Lord?
   Or your anger against the rivers,^*
   or your rage against the sea,^*
when you drove your horses,
   your chariots to victory? 
You brandished your naked bow,
   sated^* were the arrows at your command.^* 
          Selah
   You split the earth with rivers. 
The mountains saw you, and writhed;
   a torrent of water swept by;
the deep gave forth its voice.
   The sun^* raised high its hands; 
the moon^* stood still in its exalted place,
   at the light of your arrows speeding by,
   at the gleam of your flashing spear. 
In fury you trod the earth,
   in anger you trampled nations. 
You came forth to save your people,
   to save your anointed.
You crushed the head of the wicked house,
   laying it bare from foundation to roof.^*
          Selah 
You pierced with their^* own arrows the head^* of his warriors,^*
   who came like a whirlwind to scatter us,^*
   gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding. 
You trampled the sea with your horses,
   churning the mighty waters. 

I hear, and I tremble within;
   my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
   and my steps tremble^* beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
   to come upon the people who attack us. 

Though the fig tree does not blossom,
   and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
   and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
   and there is no herd in the stalls, 
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
   I will exult in the God of my salvation.

The Second Reading

Philippians 3:12-21

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal;^*but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved,^* I do not consider that I have made it my own;^* but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly^* call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

Brothers and sisters,^* join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship^* is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation^* so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory,^* by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

The Third Reading

John 17:1-8

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people,^* to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.