Open Word

FIRST READING

Isaiah 32:9-20

Verse 9. Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters. Verse 10. In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive. Verse 11. Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists. Verse 12. Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines, Verse 13. and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers — even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry. Verse 14. For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever — the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks — Verse 15. until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest. Verse 16. Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field. Verse 17. The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever. Verse 18. Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest. Verse 19. But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths. Verse 20. Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.

PSALM

Psalm 80

For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rally Your mighty power and come to save us.

Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.

O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people?

You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears.

You make us contend with our neighbors; our enemies mock us.

Restore us, O God of Hosts, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.

You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.

You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered by its shade, and the mighty cedars with its branches.

It sent out its branches to the Sea, and its shoots toward the River.

Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit?

The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

Return, O God of Hosts, we pray! Look down from heaven and see! Attend to this vine—

the root Your right hand has planted, the son You have raised up for Yourself.

Your vine has been cut down and burned; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand, on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.

Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your name.

Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.

SECOND READING

James 3:17-18

Verse 17. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Verse 18. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.