Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Evening Prayer of Trust

4 Answer me when I call, O my God Who is right and good! You have made a way for me when I needed help. Be kind to me, and hear my prayer.

² O sons of men, how long will you turn my honor into shame? How long will you love what is of no use, and run after lies? ³ Know that the Lord has set apart him who is God-like for Himself. The Lord hears when I call to Him.

⁴ Shake with anger and do not sin. When you are on your bed, look into your hearts and be quiet. ⁵ Give the gifts that are right and good, and trust in the Lord.

⁶ Many are asking, “Who will show us any good?” Let the light of Your face shine on us, O Lord. ⁷ You have filled my heart with more happiness than they have when there is much grain and wine. ⁸ I will lie down and sleep in peace. O Lord, You alone keep me safe.

Daniel’s Prayer for the People

9 Darius the son of Ahasuerus, who was born a Mede, was made king over the nation of the Babylonians. ² In the first year of his rule, I, Daniel, understood the books which were given by the Lord through Jeremiah that Jerusalem would lie waste for seventy years. ³ So I turned to the Lord God in prayer and did not eat. I dressed in cloth made from hair, and threw ashes on myself. ⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and told him the sins of my people, saying, “O Lord, you are great and we fear You. You keep Your agreement and show loving-kindness to those who love You and keep Your Laws.

⁵ “But we have sinned. We have done wrong and have acted in sin. We have turned against You and against Your Laws. ⁶ We have not listened to Your servants who spoke for You, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our leaders, our fathers, and all the people of the land. ⁷ You are right and good, O Lord. But we are all covered with shame, all the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel. The people both near and far away in all the countries where You have driven us are covered with shame because they have not been faithful to You. ⁸ We, our kings, our leaders and our fathers are all covered with shame, O Lord, because we have sinned against You. ⁹ O Lord our God, You are kind and forgiving, even when we would not obey You. ¹⁰ We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following the Laws He gave us through His servants who spoke for Him. ¹¹ All Israel has sinned against Your Law and turned away, not obeying Your voice. So the curses and punishments have been poured out on us, which were written about in the Law of God’s servant Moses. For we have sinned against Him. ¹² He has done what He said He would do against us and our leaders, and has brought much trouble upon us. For under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. ¹³ All this trouble has come upon us just as it is written in the Law of Moses. Yet we have not looked for the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sin and following Your truth. ¹⁴ So the Lord brought trouble upon us. For the Lord our God is right and good in all He does, but we have not obeyed His voice.

¹⁵ “O Lord our God, You have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a powerful hand. And You have made a name for Yourself that is known to this day. Now we have sinned. We have done sinful things. ¹⁶ O Lord, because You are right and good in what You do, do not be angry any longer with Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain. For because of our sins and the sins of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have been put to shame by everyone around us. ¹⁷ So now, our God, listen to Your servant’s prayer and what he is asking. And for Your good, O Lord, look with favor upon the House of God which now lies waste. ¹⁸ O my God, turn Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our trouble and the city that is called by Your name. We are not asking this of You because we are right or good, but because of Your great loving-pity. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! For Your own good, O my God, do not wait, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

¹⁸ My children, we are near the end of the world. You have heard that the false-christ is coming. Many false-christs have already come. This is how we know the end of the world is near. ¹⁹ These left us. But they never belonged to us. If they had been a part of us, they would have stayed with us. Because they left, it is known they did not belong to us. ²⁰ The Holy Spirit has been given to you and you all know the truth. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth. I have written because you do know the truth and you know that no lie comes from the truth.

²² Who is a liar? He is a person who says that Jesus is not the Christ. The false-christ will have nothing to do with the Father and the Son and he will turn away from Them. ²³ A person who will have nothing to do with the Son and turns against Him does not have the Father. The one who says he knows the Son has the Father also.

²⁴ Keep in your heart what you have heard from the beginning. Then you will belong to the Son and to the Father if what you have heard from the beginning is in you. ²⁵ And He has promised us life that lasts forever!