Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Exodus 2:23-24

Verse 23. After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God. Verse 24. So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

PSALM

Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b

Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the nations.

Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders.

Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

Seek out the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.

Remember the wonders He has done, His marvels, and the judgments He has pronounced,

O offspring of His servant Abraham, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.

Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.

And the LORD made His people very fruitful, more numerous than their foes,

whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.

He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron, whom He had chosen.

Hallelujah!

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 14:13-18

Verse 13. “Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” Verse 14. “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds. Verse 15. Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and famine these very prophets will meet their end! Verse 16. And the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil upon them. Verse 17. You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound. Verse 18. If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”

PSALM

Psalm 26:1-8

Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind.

For Your loving devotion is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.

I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.

I hate the mob of evildoers, and refuse to sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

to raise my voice in thanksgiving and declare all Your wonderful works.

O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.

SECOND READING

Ephesians 5:1-6

Verse 1. Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, Verse 2. and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God. Verse 3. But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed. Verse 4. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving. Verse 5. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Verse 6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.