Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

2 Samuel 5:1-10

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 6. Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.” Verse 7. Nevertheless , David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David). Verse 8. On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David. ” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.” 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 21

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, the king rejoices in Your strength. How greatly he exults in Your salvation!

You have granted his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.

For You welcomed him with rich blessings; You placed on his head a crown of pure gold.

He asked You for life, and You granted it— length of days, forever and ever.

Great is his glory in Your salvation; You bestow on him splendor and majesty.

For You grant him blessings forever; You cheer him with joy in Your presence.

For the king trusts in the LORD; through the loving devotion of the Most High, he will not be shaken.

Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies; Your right hand will seize those who hate You.

You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.

You will wipe their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from the sons of men.

Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.

For You will put them to flight when Your bow is trained upon them.

Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Ezekiel 2:8-3:11

Text not available in the Berean Standard Bible.

PSALM

Psalm 119:81-88

My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.

My eyes fail, looking for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”

Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.

How many days must Your servant wait? When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?

The arrogant have dug pits for me in violation of Your law.

All Your commandments are faithful; I am persecuted without cause— help me!

They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken Your precepts.

Revive me according to Your loving devotion, that I may obey the testimony of Your mouth.

SECOND READING

2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Verse 16. I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. Verse 17. In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Verse 18. Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast. Verse 19. For you gladly put up with fools, since you are so wise. Verse 20. In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face. Verse 21. To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about. Verse 22. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Verse 23. Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. Verse 24. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Verse 25. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. Verse 26. In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, Verse 27. in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure. Verse 28. Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Verse 29. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief? Verse 30. If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. Verse 31. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying. Verse 32. In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me. Verse 33. But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.