Tuesday in Season after Pentecost

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

1 Samuel 15:10-23

Verse 10. Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, Verse 11. “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night. Verse 12. Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.” Verse 13. When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.” Verse 14. But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?” Verse 15. Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but the rest we devoted to destruction.” Verse 16. “Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied. Verse 17. And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel Verse 18. and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’ Verse 19. So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?” Verse 20. “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction. Verse 21. The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” Verse 22. But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. Verse 23. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”

PSALM

Psalm 53

For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.

God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.

All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon God.

There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion! When God restores His captive people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 21:11-14

Verse 11. Moreover, tell the house of the king of Judah to hear the word of the LORD. Verse 12. O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of their evil deeds. Verse 13. Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau — declares the LORD — you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?” Verse 14. I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the LORD. I will kindle a fire in your forest that will consume everything around you.’”

PSALM

Psalm 52

For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.

Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth.

You love every word that devours, O deceitful tongue.

Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living.

The righteous will see and fear; they will mock the evildoer, saying,

“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.

I will praise You forever, because You have done it. I will wait on Your name — for it is good — in the presence of Your saints.

SECOND READING

Revelation 21:22-22:5

Verse 22. But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. Verse 23. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp. Verse 24. By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory. Verse 25. Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there. Verse 26. And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations. Verse 27. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Verse 1. Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb Verse 2. down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Verse 3. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him. Verse 4. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. Verse 5. There will be no more night in the city, and they will have no need for the light of a lamp or of the sun. For the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.