Wednesday in Season after Pentecost

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Amos 5:1-9

Verse 1. Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you: Verse 2. “Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.” Verse 3. This is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong will have but a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten left in the house of Israel.” Verse 4. For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live! Verse 5. Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing. Verse 6. Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph; it will devour everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it. Verse 7. There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground. Verse 8. He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth — the LORD is His name — Verse 9. He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.

PSALM

Psalm 7

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite. O LORD my God, I take refuge in You; save me and deliver me from all my pursuers,

or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

O LORD my God, if I have done this, if injustice is on my hands,

if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,

then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust.

Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.

Let the assembled peoples gather around You; take Your seat over them on high.

The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and integrity.

Put an end to the evil of the wicked, but establish the righteous, O righteous God who searches hearts and minds.

My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.

God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation each day.

If one does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has bent and strung His bow.

He has prepared His deadly weapons; He ordains His arrows with fire.

Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.

He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.

His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.

I will thank the LORD for His righteousness and sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Ecclesiastes 9:13-18

Verse 13. I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me: Verse 14. There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it. Verse 15. Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. Verse 16. And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.” Verse 17. The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools. Verse 18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

PSALM

Psalm 25:11-20

For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, for it is great.

Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.

His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.

The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

My eyes are always on the LORD, for He will free my feet from the mesh.

Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart increase; free me from my distress.

Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins.

Consider my enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with vicious hatred.

Guard my soul and deliver me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You.

SECOND READING

Matthew 25:31-46

Verse 31. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. Verse 32. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Verse 33. He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Verse 34. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Verse 35. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, Verse 36. I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’ Verse 37. Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? Verse 38. When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Verse 39. When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ Verse 40. And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ Verse 41. Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Verse 42. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, Verse 43. I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’ Verse 44. And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Verse 45. Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’ Verse 46. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”