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The Second Sunday of Advent

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    The Collect of the Day

    Second Sunday of Advent

    Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

    First Sunday of Advent

    Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

    Psalms

    148

    Laudate DominumBCP p. 805

    1Hallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens; *praise him in the heights.

    2Praise him, all you angels of his; *praise him, all his host.

    3Praise him, sun and moon; *praise him, all you shining stars.

    4Praise him, heaven of heavens, *and you waters above the heavens.

    5Let them praise the Name of the Lord; *for he commanded, and they were created.

    6He made them stand fast for ever and ever; *he gave them a law which shall not pass away.

    7Praise the Lord from the earth, *you sea-monsters and all deeps;

    8Fire and hail, snow and fog, *tempestuous wind, doing his will;

    9Mountains and all hills, *fruit trees and all cedars;

    10Wild beasts and all cattle, *creeping things and wingèd birds;

    11Kings of the earth and all peoples, *princes and all rulers of the world;

    12Young men and maidens, *old and young together.

    13Let them praise the Name of the Lord, *for his Name only is exalted, his splendor is over earth and heaven.

    14He has raised up strength for his people and praise for all his loyal servants, *the children of Israel, a people who are near him. Hallelujah!

    149

    Cantate DominoBCP p. 807

    1Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song; *sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful.

    2Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; *let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

    3Let them praise his Name in the dance; *let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.

    4For the Lord takes pleasure in his people *and adorns the poor with victory.

    5Let the faithful rejoice in triumph; *let them be joyful on their beds.

    6Let the praises of God be in their throat *and a two-edged sword in their hand;

    7To wreak vengeance on the nations *and punishment on the peoples;

    8To bind their kings in chains *and their nobles with links of iron;

    9To inflict on them the judgment decreed; *this is glory for all his faithful people. Hallelujah!

    150

    Laudate DomiBCP p. 807

    1Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy temple; *praise him in the firmament of his power.

    2Praise him for his mighty acts; *praise him for his excellent greatness.

    3Praise him with the blast of the ram’s-horn; *Praise him with lyre and harp.

    4Praise him with timbrel and dance; *praise him with strings and pipe.

    5Praise him with resounding cymbals; *praise him with loud-clanging cymbals.

    6Let everything that has breath *praise the Lord. Hallelujah!

    Daily Office Readings

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    1 Thess. 5:1-11

    1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

    Amos 6:1-14

    1 Alas for those who are at ease in Zion, and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria, the notables of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel resorts! 2 Cross over to Calneh, and see; from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is your territory greater than their territory, 3 O you that put far away the evil day, and bring near a reign of violence? 4 Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall; 5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David improvise on instruments of music; 6 who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! 7 Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away. 8 The Lord God has sworn by himself (says the Lord, the God of hosts): I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds; and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it. 9 If ten people remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And if a relative, one who burns the dead, shall take up the body to bring it out of the house, and shall say to someone in the innermost parts of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” the answer will come, “No.” Then the relative shall say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.” 11 See, the Lord commands, and the great house shall be shattered to bits, and the little house to pieces. 12 Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood— 13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar, who say, “Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?” 14 Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation, O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts, and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi Arabah.

    Luke 1:57-68

    57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him. 67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: 68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.