Proper 8 (13) — Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Genesis 22:1-14

Verse 1. Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. Verse 2. “Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” Verse 3. So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated. Verse 4. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Verse 5. “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told his servants. “The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.” Verse 6. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. He himself carried the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together. Verse 7. Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” “Here I am, my son,” he replied. “The fire and the wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Verse 8. Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together. Verse 9. When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood. Verse 10. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. Verse 11. Just then the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Verse 12. “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me. ” Verse 13. Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Verse 14. And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

PSALM

Psalm 13

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?

How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me?

Consider me and respond, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death,

lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes rejoice when I fall.

But I have trusted in Your loving devotion; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD, for He has been good to me.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 28:5-9

Verse 5. Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD. Verse 6. “Amen!” Jeremiah said. “May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied, and may He restore the articles of His house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. Verse 7. Nevertheless, listen now to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. Verse 8. The prophets of old who preceded you and me prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms. Verse 9. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, only if the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the LORD has truly sent.”

PSALM

Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the loving devotion of the LORD forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations.

For I have said, “Loving devotion is built up forever; in the heavens You establish Your faithfulness.”

You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant:

‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’”

Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.

They rejoice in Your name all day long, and in Your righteousness they exult.

For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted.

Surely our shield belongs to the LORD, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.

SECOND READING

Romans 6:12-23

Verse 12. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires. Verse 13. Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. Verse 14. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. Verse 15. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not! Verse 16. Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness? Verse 17. But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed. Verse 18. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Verse 19. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. Verse 20. For when you were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness. Verse 21. What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death. Verse 22. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. Verse 23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GOSPEL

Matthew 10:40-42

Verse 40. He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me. Verse 41. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. Verse 42. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”