Monday in Lent — Open Word

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 11:1-17

Verse 1. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: Verse 2. “Listen to the words of this covenant and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem. Verse 3. You must tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant, Verse 4. which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey Me, and do everything I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God.’ Verse 5. This was in order to establish the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is to this day.” “Amen, LORD,” I answered. Verse 6. Then the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear the words of this covenant and carry them out. Verse 7. For from the time I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, I strongly warned them again and again, saying, ‘Obey My voice.’ Verse 8. Yet they would not obey or incline their ears, but each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant I had commanded them to follow but they did not keep.” Verse 9. And the LORD told me, “There is a conspiracy among the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem. Verse 10. They have returned to the sins of their forefathers who refused to obey My words. They have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their fathers. Verse 11. Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them. Verse 12. Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to which they have been burning incense, but these gods certainly will not save them in their time of disaster. Verse 13. Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, O Judah; the altars of shame you have set up— the altars to burn incense to Baal— are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’ Verse 14. As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in their time of disaster. Verse 15. What right has My beloved in My house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can consecrated meat avert your doom? When you are wicked, then you rejoice. Verse 16. The LORD once called you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. But with a mighty roar He will set it on fire, and its branches will be consumed. Verse 17. The LORD of Hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you on account of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have brought upon themselves, provoking Me to anger by burning incense to Baal.”

PSALM

Psalm 39

For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”

I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.

My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:

“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.

You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath.

Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.

Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools.

I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.

Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.

You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor.

Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.

Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”

SECOND READING

Romans 2:1-11

Verse 1. You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Verse 2. And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. Verse 3. So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Verse 4. Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? Verse 5. But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. Verse 6. God “will repay each one according to his deeds.” Verse 7. To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life. Verse 8. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger. Verse 9. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek; Verse 10. but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek. Verse 11. For God does not show favoritism.