Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Genesis 32:3-21

Verse 3. Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. Verse 4. He instructed them, “You are to say to my master Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban and have remained there until now. Verse 5. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and maidservants. I have sent this message to inform my master, so that I may find favor in your sight.’” Verse 6. When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you— he and four hundred men with him.” Verse 7. In great fear and distress, Jacob divided his people into two camps, as well as the flocks and herds and camels. Verse 8. He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one camp, then the other camp can escape.” Verse 9. Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’ Verse 10. I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Verse 11. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he may come and attack me and the mothers and children with me. Verse 12. But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’” Verse 13. Jacob spent the night there, and from what he had brought with him, he selected a gift for his brother Esau: Verse 14. 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, Verse 15. 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. Verse 16. He entrusted them to his servants in separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep some distance between the herds.” Verse 17. He instructed the one in the lead, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, where are you going, and whose animals are these before you?’ Verse 18. then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift, sent to my lord Esau. And behold, Jacob is behind us.’” Verse 19. He also instructed the second, the third, and all those following behind the herds: “When you meet Esau, you are to say the same thing to him. Verse 20. You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me. ” Verse 21. So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.

PSALM

Psalm 139:13-18

For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!

If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Nahum 1:1-13

Verse 1. This is the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite: Verse 2. The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies. Verse 3. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet. Verse 4. He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts. Verse 5. The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence— the world and all its dwellers. Verse 6. Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him. Verse 7. The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; He cares for those who trust in Him. Verse 8. But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh and pursue His enemies into darkness. Verse 9. Whatever you plot against the LORD, He will bring to an end. Affliction will not rise up a second time. Verse 10. For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard — like stubble that is fully dry. Verse 11. From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness. Verse 12. This is what the LORD says: “Though they are allied and numerous, yet they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, O Judah, I will afflict you no longer. Verse 13. For I will now break their yoke from your neck and tear away your shackles.”

PSALM

Psalm 75

For the choirmaster: To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A song. We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your Name is near. The people declare Your wondrous works.

“When I choose a time, I will judge fairly.

When the earth and all its dwellers quake, it is I who bear up its pillars.

I say to the proud, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn.

Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”

For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert,

but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.

But I will proclaim Him forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.

“All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”

SECOND READING

Revelation 14:12-20

Verse 12. Here is a call for the perseverance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Verse 13. And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead — those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.” Verse 14. And I looked and saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was One like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. Verse 15. Then another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud, “Swing Your sickle and reap, because the time has come to harvest, for the crop of the earth is ripe.” Verse 16. So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. Verse 17. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Verse 18. Still another angel, with authority over the fire, came from the altar and called out in a loud voice to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, because its grapes are ripe.” Verse 19. So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. Verse 20. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood that flowed from it rose as high as the bridles of the horses for a distance of 1,600 stadia.