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Collect
O God, forasmuch as without you
we are not able to please you;
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Philippians 1.1–11
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
Psalm 118
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his mercy endures for ever.
Let Israel now proclaim,
‘His mercy endures for ever.’
Let the house of Aaron now proclaim,
‘His mercy endures for ever.’
Let those who fear the Lord proclaim,
‘His mercy endures for ever.’
In my constraint I called to the Lord;
the Lord answered and set me free.
The Lord is at my side; I will not fear;
what can flesh do to me?
With the Lord at my side as my saviour,
I shall see the downfall of my enemies.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put any confidence in flesh.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put any confidence in princes.
All the nations encompassed me,
but by the name of the Lord I drove them back.
They hemmed me in, they hemmed me in on every side,
but by the name of the Lord I drove them back.
They swarmed about me like bees;
they blazed like fire among thorns,
but by the name of the Lord I drove them back.
Surely, I was thrust to the brink,
but the Lord came to my help.
The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.
Joyful shouts of salvation
sound from the tents of the righteous:
‘The right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds;
the right hand of the Lord raises up;
the right hand of the Lord does mighty deeds.’
I shall not die, but live
and declare the works of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me sorely,
but he has not given me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Come, O Lord, and save us we pray.
Come, Lord, send us now prosperity.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord;
we bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God; he has given us light;
link the pilgrims with cords
right to the horns of the altar.
You are my God and I will thank you;
you are my God and I will exalt you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his mercy endures for ever.