Proper 7 (12) — Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Genesis 21:8-21

Verse 8. So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. Verse 9. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son, Verse 10. and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!” Verse 11. Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael. Verse 12. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned. Verse 13. But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.” Verse 14. Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. Verse 15. When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Verse 16. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept. Verse 17. Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies. Verse 18. Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Verse 19. Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. Verse 20. And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer. Verse 21. And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

PSALM

Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17

A prayer of David. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.

Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long.

Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.

Hear my prayer, O LORD, and attend to my plea for mercy.

In the day of my distress I call on You, because You answer me.

O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.

All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.

For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.

Turn to me and have mercy; grant Your strength to Your servant; save the son of Your maidservant.

Show me a sign of Your goodness, that my enemies may see and be ashamed; for You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 20:7-13

Verse 7. You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. Verse 8. For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long. Verse 9. If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. Verse 10. For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.” Verse 11. But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame, with an everlasting disgrace that will never be forgotten. Verse 12. O LORD of Hosts, who examines the righteous, who sees the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause. Verse 13. Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.

PSALM

Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18

For I have endured scorn for Your sake, and shame has covered my face.

I have become a stranger to my brothers and a foreigner to my mother’s sons,

because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.

I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach.

Answer me, O LORD, for Your loving devotion is good; turn to me in keeping with Your great compassion.

Hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly!

Draw near to my soul and redeem me; ransom me because of my foes.

SECOND READING

Romans 6:1b-11

Verse 1. Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? Verse 2. Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? Verse 3. Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Verse 4. We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life. Verse 5. For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. Verse 6. We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Verse 7. For anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Verse 8. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. Verse 9. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. Verse 10. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. Verse 11. So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

GOSPEL

Matthew 10:24-39

Verse 24. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. Verse 25. It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! Verse 26. So do not be afraid of them. For there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. Verse 27. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. Verse 28. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Verse 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. Verse 30. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Verse 31. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Verse 32. Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. Verse 33. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. Verse 34. Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. Verse 35. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Verse 36. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Verse 37. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; Verse 38. and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Verse 39. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.