Season after Pentecost
Friday in Season after Pentecost
Friday, July 17, 2026
Semicontinuous (Track 1)
FIRST READING
Ezekiel 39:21-29
Verse 21. I will display My glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment that I execute and the hand that I lay upon them. Verse 22. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. Verse 23. And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword. Verse 24. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and transgressions, and I hid My face from them. Verse 25. Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name. Verse 26. They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them. Verse 27. When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, I will show My holiness in them in the sight of many nations. Verse 28. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, when I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations. Verse 29. And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
PSALM
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Complementary (Track 2)
FIRST READING
Isaiah 44:9-17
Verse 9. All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame. Verse 10. Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing? Verse 11. Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame. Verse 12. The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint. Verse 13. The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. Verse 14. He cuts down cedars or retrieves a cypress or oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow. Verse 15. It serves as fuel for man. He takes some of it to warm himself, and he kindles a fire and bakes his bread. He also fashions it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Verse 16. He burns half of it in the fire, and he roasts meat on that half. He eats the roast and is satisfied. Indeed, he warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” Verse 17. From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
PSALM
Psalm 86:11-17
SECOND READING
Hebrews 6:13-20
Verse 13. When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself, Verse 14. saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.” Verse 15. And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise. Verse 16. Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument. Verse 17. So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath. Verse 18. Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged. Verse 19. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, Verse 20. where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.