Today is the Feast of Conversion of St. Paul -- Click for Readings
Epiphany
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6b

Saint and Major Saints' Days
Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:4

Confession of Sin

Most merciful God,
I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

The Absolution
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen

The Invitatory and Psalter

O God make speed to save us, O Lord make haste to help us

O Gracious Light,
pure brightness of everliving Father in heaven
O Jesus Christ holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun
and our eyes behold the vesper light
we sing your praises O God: Father Son and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices
O Son of God, O Giver of Life
and to be glorified through all worlds.
The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.

?The Psalms are unique for the evening, the other lessions can be read in total or those you have not included in Morning Prayer

The Lessons

Psalm 49

⁽¹⁾ Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, ⁽²⁾ Both low and high, Rich and poor together. ⁽³⁾ My mouth shall speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding. ⁽⁴⁾ I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will disclose my dark saying on the harp.

⁽⁵⁾ Why should I fear in the days of evil, When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me? ⁽⁶⁾ Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the multitude of their riches, ⁽⁷⁾ None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him -- ⁽⁸⁾ For the redemption of their souls is costly, And it shall cease forever --

⁽⁹⁾ That he should continue to live eternally, And not see the Pit. ⁽¹⁰⁾ For he sees wise men die; Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, And leave their wealth to others. ⁽¹¹⁾ Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, Their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. ⁽¹²⁾ Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain; He is like the beasts that perish.

⁽¹³⁾ This is the way of those who are foolish, And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah ⁽¹⁴⁾ Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling. ⁽¹⁵⁾ But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me. Selah ⁽¹⁶⁾ Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased;

⁽¹⁷⁾ For when he dies he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him. ⁽¹⁸⁾ Though while he lives he blesses himself (For men will praise you when you do well for yourself), ⁽¹⁹⁾ He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see light. ⁽²⁰⁾ A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, Is like the beasts that perish.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Isaiah Chapter 49

⁽¹⁾ Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. ⁽²⁾ And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me.' ⁽³⁾ And He said to me, 'You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.' ⁽⁴⁾ Then I said, 'I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, And my work with my God.' '

⁽⁵⁾ And now the LORD says, Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, So that Israel is gathered to Him ( For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, And My God shall be My strength), ⁽⁶⁾ Indeed He says, 'It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.' ' ⁽⁷⁾ Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nation abhors, To the Servant of rulers: 'Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the LORD who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You.' ⁽⁸⁾ Thus says the LORD: 'In an acceptable time I have heard You, And in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You As a covenant to the people, To restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;

⁽⁹⁾ That You may say to the prisoners, 'Go forth,' To those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' 'They shall feed along the roads, And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. ⁽¹⁰⁾ They shall neither hunger nor thirst, Neither heat nor sun shall strike them; For He who has mercy on them will lead them, Even by the springs of water He will guide them. ⁽¹¹⁾ I will make each of My mountains a road, And My highways shall be elevated. ⁽¹²⁾ Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west, And these from the land of Sinim.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Galatians Chapter 2

⁽¹¹⁾ Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; ⁽¹²⁾ for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. ⁽¹³⁾ And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. ⁽¹⁴⁾ But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, 'If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

⁽¹⁵⁾ We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, ⁽¹⁶⁾ knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. ⁽¹⁷⁾ But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! ⁽¹⁸⁾ For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

⁽¹⁹⁾ For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. ⁽²⁰⁾ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ⁽²¹⁾ I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.'

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Mark Chapter 6

⁽¹³⁾ And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. ⁽¹⁴⁾ Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, 'John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.' ⁽¹⁵⁾ Others said, 'It is Elijah.' And others said, 'It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets.' ⁽¹⁶⁾ But when Herod heard, he said, 'This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!'

⁽¹⁷⁾ For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her. ⁽¹⁸⁾ For John had said to Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.' ⁽¹⁹⁾ Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; ⁽²⁰⁾ for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.

⁽²¹⁾ Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. ⁽²²⁾ And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, 'Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.' ⁽²³⁾ He also swore to her, 'Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.' ⁽²⁴⁾ So she went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask?' And she said, 'The head of John the Baptist!'

⁽²⁵⁾ Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, 'I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.' ⁽²⁶⁾ And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her. ⁽²⁷⁾ Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, ⁽²⁸⁾ brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

⁽²⁹⁾ When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

?A canticle is a hymn, or other Christian song of praise with lyrics taken from biblical texts

The Canticles

The Song of Simeon       Nunc Dimittis Luke 2:29-32  
Lord, you now have set your servant free
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior,
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A Light to enlighten the nations,
and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.


The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
  He descended to the dead.
  On the third day he rose again.
  He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
  the holy catholic Church,
  the communion of saints,
  the forgiveness of sins,
  the resurrection of the body,
  and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Prayers

The Lord's Prayer   Traditional
Suffrages     A

Seasonal Collect:  Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Collect of the Day: Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for Mission: O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the spirit of love that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Personal Prayers and Reflection

This is a time to pause, consider and listen. Pray for yourself and others.


Closing Prayers   Thanksgiving

Conclude with following
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21



This concludes the Daily Morning Prayer
Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord