Readings

Wednesday after the Seventh Sunday of Easter

    The Collect of the Day

    Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Sunday after Ascension Day

    O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

    Psalms

    101

    Misericordiam ed judiciumBCP p. 730

    1I will sing of mercy and justice; *to you, O Lord, will I sing praises.

    2I will strive to follow a blameless course; oh, when will you come to me? *I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.

    3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; *I hate the doers of evil deeds; they shall not remain with me.

    4A crooked heart shall be far from me; *I will not know evil.

    5Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; *those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.

    6My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, *and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.

    7Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.

    8I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, *that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

    109

    Deus, laudemBCP p. 750

    1Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *for the mouth of the wicked, the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.

    2They speak to me with a lying tongue; *they encompass me with hateful words and fight against me without a cause.

    3Despite my love, they accuse me; *but as for me, I pray for them.

    4They repay evil for good, *and hatred for my love.

    5Set a wicked man against him, *and let an accuser stand at his right hand.

    6When he is judged, let him be found guilty, *and let his appeal be in vain.

    7Let his days be few, *and let another take his office.

    8Let his children be fatherless, *and his wife become a widow.

    9Let his children be waifs and beggars; *let them be driven from the ruins of their homes.

    10Let the creditor seize everything he has; *let strangers plunder his gains.

    11Let there be no one to show him kindness, *and none to pity his fatherless children.

    12Let his descendants be destroyed, *and his name be blotted out in the next generation.

    13Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, *and his mother’s sin not be blotted out;

    14Let their sin be always before the Lord; *but let him root out their names from the earth;

    15Because he did not remember to show mercy, *but persecuted the poor and needy and sought to kill the brokenhearted.

    16He loved cursing, let it come upon him; *he took no delight in blessing, let it depart from him.

    17He put on cursing like a garment, *let it soak into his body like water and into his bones like oil;

    18Let it be to him like the cloak which he wraps around himself, *and like the belt that he wears continually.

    19Let this be the recompense from the Lord to my accusers, *and to those who speak evil against me.

    20But you, O Lord my God, oh, deal with me according to your Name; *for your tender mercy’s sake, deliver me.

    21For I am poor and needy, *and my heart is wounded within me.

    22I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *I am shaken off like a locust.

    23My knees are weak through fasting, *and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.

    24I have become a reproach to them; *they see and shake their heads.

    25Help me, O Lord my God; *save me for your mercy’s sake.

    26Let them know that this is your hand, *that you, O Lord, have done it.

    27They may curse, but you will bless; *let those who rise up against me be put to shame, and your servant will rejoice.

    28Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace *and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.

    29I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; *in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;

    30Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, *to save his life from those who would condemn him.

    Daily Office Readings

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    Isa. 4:2-6

    2 On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. 3 Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6 It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

    Eph. 4:1-16

    1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” 9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

    Matt. 8:28-34

    28 When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. 31 The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. 33 The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.