Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Amos 8:1-12

Verse 1. This is what the Lord GOD showed me: I saw a basket of summer fruit. Verse 2. “Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.” Verse 3. “In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!” Verse 4. Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land, Verse 5. asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales. Verse 6. Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!” Verse 7. The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds. Verse 8. Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt. Verse 9. And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime. Verse 10. I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day. Verse 11. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land — not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Verse 12. People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

PSALM

Psalm 52

For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.

Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth.

You love every word that devours, O deceitful tongue.

Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living.

The righteous will see and fear; they will mock the evildoer, saying,

“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.

I will praise You forever, because You have done it. I will wait on Your name — for it is good — in the presence of Your saints.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Genesis 18:1-10a

Verse 1. Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. Verse 2. And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. Verse 3. “My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. Verse 4. Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. Verse 5. And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.” Verse 6. So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.” Verse 7. Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. Verse 8. Then Abraham brought curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and he set them before the men and stood by them under the tree as they ate. Verse 9. “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked. “There, in the tent,” he replied. Verse 10. Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.

PSALM

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David. O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?

He who walks with integrity and practices righteousness, who speaks the truth from his heart,

who has no slander on his tongue, who does no harm to his neighbor, who casts no scorn on his friend,

who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath,

who lends his money without interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

SECOND READING

Colossians 1:15-28

Verse 15. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Verse 16. For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. Verse 17. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Verse 18. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence. Verse 19. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, Verse 20. and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross. Verse 21. Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds. Verse 22. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence — Verse 23. if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Verse 24. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church. Verse 25. I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God, Verse 26. the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints. Verse 27. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Verse 28. We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

GOSPEL

Luke 10:38-42

Verse 38. As they traveled along, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. Verse 39. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message. Verse 40. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!” Verse 41. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord replied, “you are worried and upset about many things. Verse 42. But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”