Readings

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

    The Collect of the Day

    Fourth Sunday of Advent

    Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of 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

    24

    Domini est terraBCP p. 613

    1The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, *the world and all who dwell therein.

    2For it is he who founded it upon the seas *and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.

    3“Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? *and who can stand in his holy place?”

    4“Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, *who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud.

    5They shall receive a blessing from the Lord *and a just reward from the God of their salvation.”

    6Such is the generation of those who seek him, *of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

    7Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O everlasting doors; *and the King of glory shall come in.

    8“Who is this King of glory?” *“The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.”

    9Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O everlasting doors; *and the King of glory shall come in.

    10“Who is he, this King of glory?” *“The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.”

    29

    Afferte DominoBCP p. 620

    1Ascribe to the Lord, you gods, *ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

    2Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his Name; *worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

    3The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; *the Lord is upon the mighty waters.

    4The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice; *the voice of the Lord is a voice of splendor.

    5The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; *the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon;

    6He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, *and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.

    7The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire; the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; *the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

    8The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe *and strips the forests bare.

    9And in the temple of the Lord *all are crying, “Glory!”

    10The Lord sits enthroned above the flood; *the Lord sits enthroned as King for evermore.

    11The Lord shall give strength to his people; *the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.

    Daily Office Readings

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    John 3:16-21

    16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

    Gen. 3:8-15

    8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

    Rev. 12:1-10

    1 A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birthpangs, in the agony of giving birth. 3 Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days. 7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.