A Reading For Good Friday

O Christ,
Thou Lamb of God,
slain for the sin of the whole world,
with penitent heart I come to Thy Cross,
pleading for mercy and forgiveness.
My sins — and they are many —
have added to the burden of Thy suffering
and have nailed Thee to the accursed tree.
For me Thou has tasted the agony of the utter darkness
that I might not perish but have everlasting life.
Have mercy upon me.

O Christ, Thou Lamb of God,
embrace me with Thy love,
and forgive me all my sins.
Thy death brings healing to my soul,
peace to my mind,
cleansing to my heart.
If Thou wouldst mark iniquity,
I could not come;
for my hands are unclean,
my lips are sullied,
and my heart is blackened by sin.
But beholding Thee bleeding,
despised, forsaken, dying, pierced,
I come to be cleansed and forgiven.

O Christ, Thou Lamb of God,
grant that I may hate sin and wickedness more and more
as I behold Thee in Thy great agony.
My grateful heart today finds hope in Thy words,
comfort in Thy promises,
salvation in Thy finished work on the Cross,
by which Though has overcome sin, Satan, and death.

O Christ, Thou Lamb of God,
grant that I may daily walk by faith,
crucifying all sinful desires
and giving myself and dedicating my all to Thee.
Keep me faithful to the end of my days,
until I stand before Thy throne to worship Thee,
the Lamb once slain but now living and reigning forever,
adored by the multitude of heaven.
Hear my cry, Redeemer of my soul.
Amen.

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• From the 1951 Lutheran Book of Prayer

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