Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Micah 1:1-5

Verse 1. This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah — what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem: Verse 2. Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth, and everyone in it! May the Lord GOD bear witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple. Verse 3. For behold, the LORD comes forth from His dwelling place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. Verse 4. The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. Verse 5. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

PSALM

Psalm 142

A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.

I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.

Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.

Look to my right and see; no one attends to me. There is no refuge for me; no one cares for my soul.

I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

Listen to my cry, for I am brought quite low. Rescue me from my pursuers, for they are too strong for me.

Free my soul from prison, that I may praise Your name. The righteous will gather around me because of Your goodness to me.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Leviticus 26:3-20

Verse 3. If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments, Verse 4. I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Verse 5. Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have your fill of food to eat and will dwell securely in your land. Verse 6. And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land. Verse 7. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Verse 8. Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. Verse 9. I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you. Verse 10. You will still be eating the old supply of grain when you need to clear it out to make room for the new. Verse 11. And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you. Verse 12. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. Verse 13. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk in uprightness. Verse 14. If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments, Verse 15. and if you reject My statutes, despise My ordinances, and neglect to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant, Verse 16. then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. Verse 17. And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you. Verse 18. And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins. Verse 19. I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze, Verse 20. and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.

PSALM

Psalm 92

A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,

to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night

with the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre.

For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds; I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!

A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,

that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.

But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!

For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.

But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.

My eyes see the downfall of my enemies; my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain,

to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and in Him there is no unrighteousness.”

SECOND READING

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Verse 1. Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more. Verse 2. For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. Verse 3. For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; Verse 4. each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, Verse 5. not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God; Verse 6. and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you. Verse 7. For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness. Verse 8. Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.