Evening Prayer

A Reading from the Letter to the Ephesians.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

A Reading from the Wisdom of Ben Sira.

15 I will now call to mind the works of the Lord,    and will declare what I have seen. By the word of the Lord his works are made;    and all his creatures do his will. 16 The sun looks down on everything with its light,    and the work of the Lord is full of his glory. 17 The Lord has not empowered even his holy ones    to recount all his marvellous works, which the Lord the Almighty has established    so that the universe may stand firm in his glory. 18 He searches out the abyss and the human heart;    he understands their innermost secrets. For the Most High knows all that may be known;    he sees from of old the things that are to come. 19 He discloses what has been and what is to be,    and he reveals the traces of hidden things. 20 No thought escapes him,    and nothing is hidden from him. 21 He has set in order the splendours of his wisdom;    he is from all eternity one and the same. Nothing can be added or taken away,    and he needs no one to be his counsellor. 22 How desirable are all his works,    and how sparkling they are to see! 23 All these things live and remain for ever;    each creature is preserved to meet a particular need. 24 All things come in pairs, one opposite to the other,    and he has made nothing incomplete. 25 Each supplements the virtues of the other. Who could ever tire of seeing his glory?