Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Joshua 1:1-11

Verse 1. Now after the death of His servant Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, Verse 2. “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, you and all these people, and cross over the Jordan into the land that I am giving to the children of Israel. Verse 3. I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses. Verse 4. Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates— all the land of the Hittites— and west as far as the Great Sea. Verse 5. No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Verse 6. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give these people the inheritance of the land that I swore to their fathers I would give them. Verse 7. Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go. Verse 8. This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do. Verse 9. Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Verse 10. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people: Verse 11. “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you will cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.’”

PSALM

Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy

and gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell.

They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.

He led them on a straight path to reach a city where they could live.

He turns rivers into deserts, springs of water into thirsty ground,

and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.

He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.

He causes the hungry to settle there, that they may establish a city in which to dwell.

They sow fields and plant vineyards that yield a fruitful harvest.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

1 Samuel 2:27-36

Verse 27. Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house? Verse 28. And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I also gave to the house of your father all the food offerings of the Israelites. Verse 29. Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’ Verse 30. Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained. Verse 31. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no one in it will reach old age. Verse 32. You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age. Verse 33. And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, I will cause your eyes to fail and your heart to grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men. Verse 34. And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day. Verse 35. Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time. Verse 36. And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”

PSALM

Psalm 43

Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.

For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?

Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to the place where You dwell.

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

SECOND READING

Romans 2:17-29

Verse 17. Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; Verse 18. if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; Verse 19. if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, Verse 20. an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth — Verse 21. you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? Verse 22. You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? Verse 23. You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? Verse 24. As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Verse 25. Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Verse 26. If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Verse 27. The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. Verse 28. A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. Verse 29. No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.