Evening Prayer: December 14th, 2022

Isaiah 48

48   Hear this, O house of Jacob,
    who are called by the name of Israel,
    and who came from the waters of Judah,
  who swear by the name of the LORD
    and confess the God of Israel,
    but not in truth or right.
2   For they call themselves after the holy city,
    and stay themselves on the God of Israel;
    the LORD of hosts is his name.


3   “The former things I declared of old;
    they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;
    then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4   Because I know that you are obstinate,
    and your neck is an iron sinew
    and your forehead brass,
5   I declared them to you from of old,
    before they came to pass I announced them to you,
  lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,
    my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’


6   “You have heard; now see all this;
    and will you not declare it?
  From this time forth I announce to you new things,
    hidden things that you have not known.
7   They are created now, not long ago;
    before today you have never heard of them,
    lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8   You have never heard, you have never known,
    from of old your ear has not been opened.
  For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
    and that from before birth you were called a rebel.


9   “For my name’s sake I defer my anger;
    for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
    that I may not cut you off.
10   Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
    I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
11   For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
    for how should my name be profaned?
    My glory I will not give to another.

12   “Listen to me, O Jacob,
    and Israel, whom I called!
  I am he; I am the first,
    and I am the last.
13   My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
    and my right hand spread out the heavens;
  when I call to them,
    they stand forth together.


14   “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
    Who among them has declared these things?
  The LORD loves him;
    he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
    and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15   I, even I, have spoken and called him;
    I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
16   Draw near to me, hear this:
    from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
    from the time it came to be I have been there.”
  And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.


17   Thus says the LORD,
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
  “I am the LORD your God,
    who teaches you to profit,
    who leads you in the way you should go.
18   Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
    Then your peace would have been like a river,
    and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
19   your offspring would have been like the sand,
    and your descendants like its grains;
  their name would never be cut off
    or destroyed from before me.”


20   Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea,
    declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it,
  send it out to the end of the earth;
    say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
21   They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow for them from the rock;
    he split the rock and the water gushed out.


22   “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

ESV

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

A brief silence is kept after the reading.
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Luke 21:5–38

5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” 8 And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. 9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.

ESV

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

A brief silence is kept after the reading.