Monday in Epiphany — Open Word

FIRST READING

1 Kings 17:8-16

Verse 8. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: Verse 9. “Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” Verse 10. So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.” Verse 11. And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread.” Verse 12. But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread— only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.” Verse 13. “Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake of bread from what you have, and bring it out to me. Afterward, make some for yourself and your son, Verse 14. for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’” Verse 15. So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her household. Verse 16. The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.

PSALM

Psalm 56

For the choirmaster. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for men are hounding me; all day they press their attack.

My enemies pursue me all day long, for many proudly assail me.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.

In God, whose word I praise — in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.

They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps while they wait to take my life.

In spite of such sin, will they escape? In Your anger, O God, cast down the nations.

You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle — are they not in Your book?

Then my enemies will retreat on the day I cry for help. By this I will know that God is on my side.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You.

For You have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

SECOND READING

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Verse 6. Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom — but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. Verse 7. No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began. Verse 8. None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Verse 9. Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” Verse 10. But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. Verse 11. For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Verse 12. We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. Verse 13. And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. Verse 14. The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. Verse 15. The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. Verse 16. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.