Proper 26 (31) — Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Joshua 3:7-17

Verse 7. Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. Verse 8. Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.’” Verse 9. So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.” Verse 10. He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. Verse 11. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan. Verse 12. Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. Verse 13. When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD — the Lord of all the earth — touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.” Verse 14. So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them. Verse 15. Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, Verse 16. the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. Verse 17. The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.

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

Micah 3:5-12

Verse 5. This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths: Verse 6. Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them. Verse 7. Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.” Verse 8. As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. Verse 9. Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right, Verse 10. who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity. Verse 11. Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.” Verse 12. Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

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

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Verse 9. Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. Verse 10. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless our conduct was among you who believed. Verse 11. For you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children— Verse 12. encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. Verse 13. And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is also now at work in you who believe.

GOSPEL

Matthew 23:1-12

Verse 1. Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: Verse 2. “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Verse 3. So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. Verse 4. They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Verse 5. All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. Verse 6. They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues, Verse 7. the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed. Verse 8. But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. Verse 9. And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Verse 10. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ. Verse 11. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Verse 12. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.