Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Obadiah 15-21

Verse 15. For the Day of the LORD is near for all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your recompense will return upon your own head. Verse 16. For as you drank on My holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and gulp it down; they will be as if they had never existed. Verse 17. But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance, and it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will reclaim their possession. Verse 18. Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame; but the house of Esau will be stubble — Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it. Therefore no survivor will remain from the house of Esau.” Verse 19. Those from the Negev will possess the mountains of Esau; those from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. Verse 20. And the exiles of this host of the Israelites will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev. Verse 21. The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to rule over the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will belong to the LORD.

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

Proverbs 11:23-30

Verse 23. The desire of the righteous leads only to good, but the hope of the wicked brings wrath. Verse 24. One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor. Verse 25. A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Verse 26. The people will curse the hoarder of grain, but blessing will crown the one who sells it. Verse 27. He who searches out good finds favor, but evil will come to him who seeks it. Verse 28. He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage. Verse 29. He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. Verse 30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

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

Matthew 13:10-17

Verse 10. Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?” Verse 11. He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Verse 12. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Verse 13. This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ Verse 14. In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. Verse 15. For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’ Verse 16. But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. Verse 17. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.