Open Word

FIRST READING

Isaiah 48:12-21

Verse 12. Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last. Verse 13. Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together. Verse 14. Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans. Verse 15. I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will succeed in his mission. Verse 16. Come near to Me and listen to this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time it happened, I was there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, accompanied by His Spirit. Verse 17. Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who directs you in the way you should go. Verse 18. If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea. Verse 19. Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and your offspring as numerous as its grains; their name would never be cut off or eliminated from My presence.” Verse 20. Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!” Verse 21. They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.

PSALM

Psalm 40:6-17

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.

Then I said, “Here I am, I have come — it is written about me in the scroll:

I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”

I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know.

I have not covered up Your righteousness in my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and salvation; I have not concealed Your loving devotion and faithfulness from the great assembly.

O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me; Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me.

For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; hurry, O LORD, to help me.

May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.

May those who say to me, “Aha, aha!” be appalled at their own shame.

May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation always say, “The LORD be magnified!”

But I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my helper and deliverer; O my God, do not delay.

SECOND READING

Matthew 9:14-17

Verse 14. Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, but Your disciples do not fast?” Verse 15. Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. Verse 16. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result. Verse 17. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”