Thursday in Easter — Open Word

FIRST READING

Isaiah 32:11-17

Verse 11. Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists. Verse 12. Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines, Verse 13. and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers — even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry. Verse 14. For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever — the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks — Verse 15. until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest. Verse 16. Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field. Verse 17. The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.

PSALM

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.

Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both great and small.

There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.

All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.

When You give it to them, they gather it up; when You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good things.

When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.

When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works.

He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smolder.

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

May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the LORD.

Bless the LORD, O my soul. Hallelujah!

SECOND READING

Galatians 5:16-25

Verse 16. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Verse 17. For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. Verse 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Verse 19. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; Verse 20. idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, Verse 21. and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Verse 23. gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Verse 24. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Verse 25. Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.