Wednesday in Season after Pentecost

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Ecclesiastes 5:1-20

Verse 1. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Verse 2. Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few. Verse 3. As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words. Verse 4. When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. Verse 5. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Verse 6. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands? Verse 7. For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God. Verse 8. If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them. Verse 9. The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields. Verse 10. He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile. Verse 11. When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes? Verse 12. The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep. Verse 13. There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, Verse 14. or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on. Verse 15. As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands. Verse 16. This too is a grievous affliction: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind? Verse 17. Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger. Verse 18. Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him — for this is his lot. Verse 19. Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God. Verse 20. For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

PSALM

Psalm 128

A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!

For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.

In this way indeed shall blessing come to the man who fears the LORD.

May the LORD bless you from Zion, that you may see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life,

that you may see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Verse 4. The word of the LORD came to me, saying: Verse 5. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Verse 6. “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!” Verse 7. But the LORD told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak. Verse 8. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” Verse 9. Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. Verse 10. See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”

PSALM

Psalm 139:1-18

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.

Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,

even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—

even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

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.

SECOND READING

John 8:21-38

Verse 21. Again He said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” Verse 22. So the Jews began to ask, “Will He kill Himself, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’ ?” Verse 23. Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Verse 24. That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” Verse 25. “Who are You?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. Verse 26. “I have much to say about you and much to judge. But the One who sent Me is truthful, and what I have heard from Him, I tell the world.” Verse 27. They did not understand that He was telling them about the Father. Verse 28. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me. Verse 29. He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.” Verse 30. As Jesus spoke these things, many believed in Him. Verse 31. So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Verse 32. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Verse 33. “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?” Verse 34. Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Verse 35. A slave does not remain in the house forever, but a son remains forever. Verse 36. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Verse 37. I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you. Verse 38. I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”