Daily Office - Dec 21

Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

He will not suffer your foot to stumble; he who watches over you will not sleep.

Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord himself watches over you;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand, so that the sun shall not strike you by day,  neither the moon by night.
The Lord shall keep you from all evil; it is he who shall keep your soul.
The Lord shall keep watch over your going out and your coming in,
from this time forth for evermore.

Psalm 122
I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’
And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem;
Jerusalem, built as a city that is at unity in itself.
Thither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,
as is decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there are set the thrones of judgement,
the thrones of the house of David.

O pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
‘Peace be within your walls
and tranquillity within your palaces.’
For my kindred and companions’ sake,
I will pray that peace be with you.

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek to do you good.

Psalm 123
To you I lift up my eyes,
to you that are enthroned in the heavens.
As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
or the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until he have mercy upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of the arrogant,
and of the contempt of the proud.

Isaiah 51:17-end
Rouse yourself, rouse yourself!
   Stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs the bowl of staggering.
There is no one to guide her among all the children she has borne;
there is no one to take her by the hand among all the children she has brought up.

These two things have befallen you
   -who will grieve with you? -
devastation and destruction, famine and sword-
   who will comfort you?

Your children have fainted,
   they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
   the rebuke of your God.

Therefore hear this, you who are wounded,
   who are drunk, but not with wine:

Thus says your Sovereign, the Lord,
   your God who pleads the cause of his people:
See, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
you shall drink no more from the bowl of my wrath.
And I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
   who have said to you,
   ‘Bow down, that we may walk on you’;
and you have made your back like the ground
   and like the street for them to walk on.

2 Thessalonians 3
Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you, and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labour we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed. Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers.
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

The Collect
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.