Open Word

FIRST READING

Amos 8:1-7

Verse 1. This is what the Lord GOD showed me: I saw a basket of summer fruit. Verse 2. “Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.” Verse 3. “In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!” Verse 4. Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land, Verse 5. asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales. Verse 6. Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!” Verse 7. The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.

PSALM

Psalm 22:25-31

My praise for You resounds in the great assembly; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You.

The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise Him. May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.

For dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him— even those unable to preserve their lives.

Posterity will serve Him; they will declare the Lord to a new generation.

They will come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn — all that He has done.

SECOND READING

Acts 8:1b-8

Verse 1. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Verse 2. God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. Verse 3. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Verse 4. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Verse 5. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. Verse 6. The crowds all paid close attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform. Verse 7. With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, and many of the paralyzed and lame were healed. Verse 8. So there was great joy in that city.