Wednesday in Season after Pentecost

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Esther 7:1-10

Verse 1. So the king and Haman went to dine with Esther the queen, Verse 2. and as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.” Verse 3. Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request. Verse 4. For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.” Verse 5. Then King Xerxes spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?” Verse 6. Esther replied, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked man — Haman!” And Haman stood in terror before the king and queen. Verse 7. In his fury, the king arose from drinking his wine and went to the palace garden, while Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, for he realized that the king was planning a terrible fate for him. Verse 8. Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually assault the queen while I am in the palace?” As soon as the words had left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Verse 9. Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” “Hang him on it!” declared the king. Verse 10. So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.

PSALM

Psalm 83:1-4, 9-10, 17-18

A song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, be not silent; be not speechless; be not still, O God.

See how Your enemies rage, how Your foes have reared their heads.

With cunning they scheme against Your people and conspire against those You cherish,

saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,

who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.

May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.

May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Job 16:1-21

Verse 1. Then Job answered: Verse 2. “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all. Verse 3. Is there no end to your long-winded speeches? What provokes you to continue testifying? Verse 4. I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you. Verse 5. But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation of my lips would bring relief. Verse 6. Even if I speak, my pain is not relieved, and if I hold back, how will it go away? Verse 7. Surely He has now exhausted me; You have devastated all my family. Verse 8. You have bound me, and it has become a witness; my frailty rises up and testifies against me. Verse 9. His anger has torn me and opposed me; He gnashes His teeth at me. My adversary pierces me with His eyes. Verse 10. They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me. Verse 11. God has delivered me to unjust men; He has thrown me to the clutches of the wicked. Verse 12. I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target; Verse 13. His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground. Verse 14. He breaks me with wound upon wound; He rushes me like a mighty warrior. Verse 15. I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust. Verse 16. My face is red with weeping, and deep shadows ring my eyes; Verse 17. yet my hands are free of violence and my prayer is pure. Verse 18. O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest. Verse 19. Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high. Verse 20. My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God. Verse 21. Oh, that a man might plead with God as he pleads with his neighbor!

PSALM

Psalm 9:1-14

For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will recount all Your wonders.

I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You.

For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.

You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.

The enemy has come to eternal ruin, and You have uprooted their cities; the very memory of them has vanished.

But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment.

He judges the world with justice; He governs the people with equity.

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; proclaim His deeds among the nations.

For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

Be merciful to me, O LORD; see how my enemies afflict me! Lift me up from the gates of death,

that I may declare all Your praises — that within the gates of Daughter Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.

SECOND READING

Matthew 24:45-51

Verse 45. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time? Verse 46. Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Verse 47. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. Verse 48. But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’ Verse 49. And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. Verse 50. The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Verse 51. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.[’’]