Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Proverbs 4:10-27

Verse 10. Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many. Verse 11. I will guide you in the way of wisdom; I will lead you on straight paths. Verse 12. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; when you run, you will not stumble. Verse 13. Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life. Verse 14. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Verse 15. Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by. Verse 16. For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall. Verse 17. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. Verse 18. The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday. Verse 19. But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble. Verse 20. My son, pay attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Verse 21. Do not lose sight of them; keep them within your heart. Verse 22. For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body. Verse 23. Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. Verse 24. Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech. Verse 25. Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. Verse 26. Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure. Verse 27. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.

PSALM

Psalm 125

A song of ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.

For the scepter of the wicked will not rest upon the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous will not put forth their hands to injustice.

Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, and to the upright in heart.

But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Isaiah 32:1-8

Verse 1. Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. Verse 2. Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land. Verse 3. Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. Verse 4. The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently. Verse 5. No longer will a fool be called noble, nor a scoundrel be respected. Verse 6. For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink. Verse 7. The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. Verse 8. But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes.

PSALM

Psalm 146

Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul.

I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.

When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He remains faithful forever.

He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free,

the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD lifts those who are weighed down, the LORD loves the righteous.

The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.

The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah!

SECOND READING

Romans 2:12-16

Verse 12. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. Verse 13. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous. Verse 14. Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. Verse 15. So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them Verse 16. on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.