Wednesday in Season after Pentecost

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

2 Kings 4:1-7

Verse 1. Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!” Verse 2. “How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Verse 3. “Go,” said Elisha, “borrow empty jars from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few. Verse 4. Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.” Verse 5. So she left him, and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing jars to her, and she kept pouring. Verse 6. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another.” But he replied, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing. Verse 7. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”

PSALM

Psalm 75

For the choirmaster: To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A song. We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your Name is near. The people declare Your wondrous works.

“When I choose a time, I will judge fairly.

When the earth and all its dwellers quake, it is I who bear up its pillars.

I say to the proud, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn.

Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”

For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert,

but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.

But I will proclaim Him forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.

“All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 23:16-22

Verse 16. This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. Verse 17. They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’ Verse 18. But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and obeyed it? Verse 19. Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked. Verse 20. The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly. Verse 21. I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. Verse 22. But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and turned them back from their evil ways and deeds.”

PSALM

Psalm 140

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men. Protect me from men of violence,

who devise evil in their hearts and stir up war all day long.

They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips.

Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. Keep me safe from men of violence who scheme to make me stumble.

The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me.

I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for help.

O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You shield my head in the day of battle.

Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted.

May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.

May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into the miry pits, never to rise again.

May no slanderer be established in the land; may calamity hunt down the man of violence.

I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.

Surely the righteous will praise Your name; the upright will dwell in Your presence.

SECOND READING

Matthew 10:16-25

Verse 16. Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Verse 17. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues. Verse 18. On My account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. Verse 19. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say. Verse 20. For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Verse 21. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. Verse 22. You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. Verse 23. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. Verse 24. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. Verse 25. It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!