Evening Prayer

Wednesday after Lectionary 18
Wednesday, August 5, 2026

The Invitatory and Psalter

O God, make speed to save us.

O Lord, make haste to help us.

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.

Alleluia.

O Gracious Light Phos hilaron

O gracious light,

pure brightness of the 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 the worlds.

Psalm 78:1–8, 17–29 Attendite, popule

Hear my teaching, O my people; *

incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in a parable; *

I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.

That which we have heard and known,

and what our forefathers have told us, *

we will not hide from their children.

We will recount to generations to come

the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the Lord, *

and the wonderful works he has done.

He gave his decrees to Jacob

and established a law for Israel, *

which he commanded them to teach their children;

That the generations to come might know,

and the children yet unborn; *

that they in their turn might tell it to their children;

So that they might put their trust in God, *

and not forget the deeds of God,

but keep his commandments;

And not be like their forefathers,

a stubborn and rebellious generation, *

a generation whose heart was not steadfast,

and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

But they went on sinning against him, *

rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

They tested God in their hearts, *

demanding food for their craving.

They railed against God and said, *

“Can God set a table in the wilderness?

True, he struck the rock, the waters gushed out, and the gullies overflowed; *

but is he able to give bread

or to provide meat for his people?”

When the Lord heard this, he was full of wrath; *

a fire was kindled against Jacob,

and his anger mounted against Israel;

For they had no faith in God, *

nor did they put their trust in his saving power.

So he commanded the clouds above *

and opened the doors of heaven.

He rained down manna upon them to eat *

and gave them grain from heaven.

So mortals ate the bread of angels; *

he provided for them food enough.

He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens *

and led out the south wind by his might.

He rained down flesh upon them like dust *

and wingèd birds like the sand of the sea.

He let it fall in the midst of their camp *

and round about their dwellings.

So they ate and were well filled, *

for he gave them what they craved.

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 Lessons

First Lesson Exodus 16:2–15, 31–35 NRSV)

²The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. ⁵On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” ⁶So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” ⁸And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but” against the Lord.

⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’“ ¹⁰And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ¹²“I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’“

¹³In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. ¹⁴When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

³¹The house of Israel called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. ³²Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, in order that they may see the food with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’“ ³³And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the covenant, for safekeeping. ³⁵The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land; they ate manna, until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.