Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

Verse 1. Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood. Verse 2. Even in times past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And to you the LORD said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’” Verse 3. So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel. Verse 4. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. Verse 5. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah. Verse 9. So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward. Verse 10. And David became greater and greater, for the LORD God of Hosts was with him.

PSALM

Psalm 48

A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain.

Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.

God is in her citadels; He has shown Himself to be a fortress.

For behold, the kings assembled; they all advanced together.

They saw and were astounded; they fled in terror.

Trembling seized them there, anguish like a woman in labor.

With a wind from the east You wrecked the ships of Tarshish.

As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the LORD of Hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish her forever.

Within Your temple, O God, we contemplate Your loving devotion.

Your name, O God, like Your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.

Mount Zion is glad, the daughters of Judah rejoice, on account of Your judgments.

March around Zion, encircle her, count her towers,

consider her ramparts, tour her citadels, that you may tell the next generation.

For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even till death.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Ezekiel 2:1-5

Verse 1. “Son of man, ” He said to me, “stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” Verse 2. And as He spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me. Verse 3. “Son of man,” He said to me, “I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. To this very day they and their fathers have rebelled against Me. Verse 4. They are obstinate and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Verse 5. And whether they listen or refuse to listen— for they are a rebellious house— they will know that a prophet has been among them.

PSALM

Psalm 123

A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.

As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the LORD our God until He shows us mercy.

Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.

We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.

SECOND READING

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Verse 2. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows. Verse 3. And I know that this man— whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows— Verse 4. was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were inexpressible, things that man is not permitted to tell. Verse 5. I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses. Verse 6. Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me, Verse 7. or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Verse 8. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. Verse 9. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. Verse 10. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

GOSPEL

Mark 6:1-13

Verse 1. Jesus went on from there and came to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples. Verse 2. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles? Verse 3. Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him. Verse 4. Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” Verse 5. So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them. Verse 6. And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He went around from village to village, teaching the people. Verse 7. Then Jesus called the Twelve to Him and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits. Verse 8. He instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey — no bread, no bag, no money in their belts — Verse 9. and to wear sandals, but not a second tunic. Verse 10. And He told them, “When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that area. Verse 11. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.” Verse 12. So they set out and preached that the people should repent. Verse 13. They also drove out many demons and healed many of the sick, anointing them with oil.