Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

1 Samuel 1:1-18

Verse 1. Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. Verse 2. He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Verse 3. Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD. Verse 4. And whenever the day came for Elkanah to present his sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. Verse 5. But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb. Verse 6. Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her viciously to taunt her. Verse 7. And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat. Verse 8. “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” Verse 9. So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. Verse 10. In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. Verse 11. And she made a vow, saying, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever touch his head.” Verse 12. As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth. Verse 13. Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk Verse 14. and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!” Verse 15. “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD. Verse 16. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman, for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.” Verse 17. “Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.” Verse 18. “May your maidservant find favor with you,” said Hannah. Then she went on her way, and she began to eat, and her face was no longer downcast.

PSALM

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!

If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Exodus 31:12-18

Verse 12. And the LORD said to Moses, Verse 13. “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. Verse 14. Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from among his people. Verse 15. For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death. Verse 16. The Israelites must keep the Sabbath, celebrating it as a permanent covenant for the generations to come. Verse 17. It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’” Verse 18. When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

PSALM

Psalm 81:1-10

For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. Of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.

Lift up a song, strike the tambourine, play the sweet-sounding harp and lyre.

Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and at the full moon on the day of our Feast.

For this is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

He ordained it as a testimony for Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt, where I heard an unfamiliar language:

“I relieved his shoulder of the burden; his hands were freed from the basket.

You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Hear, O My people, and I will warn you: O Israel, if only you would listen to Me!

There must be no strange god among you, nor shall you bow to a foreign god.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.

SECOND READING

Acts 25:1-12

Verse 1. Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, Verse 2. where the chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul. They urged Festus Verse 3. to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. Verse 4. But Festus replied, “Paul is being held in Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. Verse 5. So if this man has done anything wrong, let some of your leaders come down with me and accuse him there.” Verse 6. After spending no more than eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he sat on the judgment seat and ordered that Paul be brought in. Verse 7. When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges that they could not prove. Verse 8. Then Paul made his defense: “I have committed no offense against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” Verse 9. But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to stand trial before me on these charges?” Verse 10. Paul replied, “I am standing before the judgment seat of Caesar, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. Verse 11. If, however, I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” Verse 12. Then Festus conferred with his council and replied, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”