Evening Prayer (Evensong) in Contemporary Language

¶ Evening Prayer
Lent
Monday, 16 March 2026

Preparation

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

Hear our voice, O Lord, according to your faithful love,
Allaccording to your judgement give us life.

One or more of the following is said or sung:

this or another prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
In the darkness of our sin you have shone in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
Open our eyes to acknowledge your presence,
that freed from the misery of sin and shame
we may grow into your likeness from glory to glory.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.

A Song of Entreaty (page 568), the following or another suitable hymn

Lord Jesus, think on me,
and purge away my sin;
from earthborn passions set me free,
and make me pure within.

Lord Jesus, think on me
with many a care opprest;
let me thy loving servant be,
and taste thy promised rest.

Lord Jesus, think on me,
nor let me go astray;
through darkness and perplexity
point thou the heavenly way.

Lord Jesus, think on me,
that, when the flood is past,
I may the eternal brightness see,
and share thy joy at last.

George the Sinner, tr: A W Chatfield
(Tune: SM)

This opening prayer may be said

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Word of God

Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.

Psalm 25

Refrain: Remember, Lord, your compassion and love.

1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
O my God, in you I trust; ♦
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies triumph over me.

2 Let none who look to you be put to shame, ♦
but let the treacherous be shamed and frustrated.

3 Make me to know your ways, O Lord, ♦
and teach me your paths.

4 Lead me in your truth and teach me, ♦
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you have I hoped all the day long.

5 Remember, Lord, your compassion and love, ♦
for they are from everlasting. R

6 Remember not the sins of my youth
or my transgressions, ♦
but think on me in your goodness, O Lord,
according to your steadfast love.

7 Gracious and upright is the Lord; ♦
therefore shall he teach sinners in the way.

8 He will guide the humble in doing right ♦
and teach his way to the lowly.

9 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth ♦
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. R

10 For your name’s sake, O Lord, ♦
be merciful to my sin, for it is great.

11 Who are those who fear the Lord? ♦
Them will he teach in the way that they should choose.

12 Their soul shall dwell at ease ♦
and their offspring shall inherit the land.

13 The hidden purpose of the Lord is for those who fear him ♦
and he will show them his covenant.

14 My eyes are ever looking to the Lord, ♦
for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. R

15 Turn to me and be gracious to me, ♦
for I am alone and brought very low.

16 The sorrows of my heart have increased; ♦
O bring me out of my distress.

17 Look upon my adversity and misery ♦
and forgive me all my sin.

18 Look upon my enemies, for they are many ♦
and they bear a violent hatred against me.

19 O keep my soul and deliver me; ♦
let me not be put to shame, for I have put my trust in you.

20 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, ♦
for my hope has been in you.

21 Deliver Israel, O God, ♦
out of all his troubles.

Refrain: Remember, Lord, your compassion and love.

Free us, God of mercy,
from all that keeps us from you;
relieve the misery of the anxious and the ashamed
and fill us with the hope of peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 28

Refrain: The Lord is my strength and my shield.

1 To you I call, O Lord my rock;
be not deaf to my cry, ♦
lest, if you do not hear me,
I become like those who go down to the Pit.

2 Hear the voice of my prayer when I cry out to you, ♦
when I lift up my hands to your holy of holies. R

3 Do not snatch me away with the wicked,
with the evildoers, ♦
who speak peaceably with their neighbours,
while malice is in their hearts.

4 Repay them according to their deeds ♦
and according to the wickedness of their devices. R

5 Reward them according to the work of their hands ♦
and pay them their just deserts.

6 They take no heed of the Lord’s doings,
nor of the works of his hands; ♦
therefore shall he break them down
and not build them up. R

7 Blessed be the Lord, ♦
for he has heard the voice of my prayer.

8 The Lord is my strength and my shield; ♦
my heart has trusted in him and I am helped;

9 Therefore my heart dances for joy ♦
and in my song will I praise him. R

10 The Lord is the strength of his people, ♦
a safe refuge for his anointed.

11 Save your people and bless your inheritance; ♦
shepherd them and carry them for ever.

Refrain: The Lord is my strength and my shield.

Hear us, Shepherd of your people,
forgive us our sins
and, in a world of pretences,
make us true in heart and mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Each psalm or group of psalms may end with

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.

Jeremiah 17.5-18

Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
   and make mere flesh their strength,
   whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
   and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
   in an uninhabited salt land.

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
   whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
   sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
   and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
   and it does not cease to bear fruit.

The heart is devious above all else;
   it is perverse—
   who can understand it?
I the Lord test the mind
   and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
   according to the fruit of their doings.

Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay,
   so are all who amass wealth unjustly;
in mid-life it will leave them,
   and at their end they will prove to be fools.

O glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,
   shrine of our sanctuary!
O hope of Israel! O Lord!
   All who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you shall be recorded in the underworld,
   for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, the Lord.

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
   save me, and I shall be saved;
   for you are my praise.
See how they say to me,
   ‘Where is the word of the Lord?
   Let it come!’
But I have not run away from being a shepherd in your service,
   nor have I desired the fatal day.
You know what came from my lips;
   it was before your face.
Do not become a terror to me;
   you are my refuge on the day of disaster;
Let my persecutors be shamed,
   but do not let me be shamed;
let them be dismayed,
   but do not let me be dismayed;
bring on them the day of disaster;
   destroy them with double destruction!

Canticle

A Song of Christ the Servant, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 61 (page 619) or number 67 (page 625), may be said

Refrain:

AllChrist committed no sin,
no guile was found on his lips. Alleluia.

1Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, ♦
that you should follow in his steps.

2He committed no sin, no guile was found on his lips, ♦
when he was reviled, he did not revile in turn.

3When he suffered, he did not threaten, ♦
but he trusted himself to God who judges justly.

4Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, ♦
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

5By his wounds, you have been healed,
for you were straying like sheep, ♦
but have now returned
to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

1 Peter 2.21b-25

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

AllChrist committed no sin,
no guile was found on his lips. Alleluia.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

John 9.18-end

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, ‘Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’ Then they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains.

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

Forsake me not, O Lord;
be not far from me, O my God.
AllForsake me not, O Lord;
be not far from me, O my God.
Make haste to help me,
O Lord of my salvation.
AllBe not far from me, O my God.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
AllForsake me not, O Lord;
be not far from me, O my God.

from Psalm 38

Gospel Canticle

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary) is normally said,
or A Song of Praise (page 627) may be said

Refrain:

AllCome, let us return to the Lord,
for our God will richly pardon.

1My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; ♦
he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

2From this day all generations will call me blessed; ♦
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his name.

3He has mercy on those who fear him, ♦
from generation to generation.

4He has shown strength with his arm ♦
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,

5Casting down the mighty from their thrones ♦
and lifting up the lowly.

6He has filled the hungry with good things ♦
and sent the rich away empty.

7He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, ♦
to remember his promise of mercy,

8The promise made to our ancestors, ♦
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Luke 1.46-55

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

Refrain:

AllCome, let us return to the Lord,
for our God will richly pardon.

Prayers

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offered
¶ for peace
¶ for individuals and their needs

Prayers may include the following concerns from the cycle on pages 364–365

¶ Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
¶ Those serving through leadership
¶ Those looking for forgiveness
¶ Those misled by the false gods of this present age
¶ All who are hungry

A form of prayer found on page 380 may be used.

The Litany on pages 400-403 may be said instead of the Prayers.

These responses may be used

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer

(or)

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Silence may be kept.

The Collect of the day is said

Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins
which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ's sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said

Trusting in the compassion of God,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

AllOur Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

(or)

Trusting in the compassion of God,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

AllOur Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Conclusion

May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
AllAmen.

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.
AllThanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.