Friday in Season after Pentecost

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Hosea 5:1-15

Verse 1. “Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O royal house! For this judgment is against you because you have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor. Verse 2. The rebels are deep in slaughter; but I will chastise them all. Verse 3. I know all about Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, O Ephraim, you have turned to prostitution; Israel is defiled. Verse 4. Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God, for a spirit of prostitution is within them, and they do not know the LORD. Verse 5. Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them. Verse 6. They go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, but they do not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. Verse 7. They have been unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their land. Verse 8. Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the battle cry in Beth-aven: Lead on, O Benjamin! Verse 9. Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain. Verse 10. The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary stones; I will pour out My fury upon them like water. Verse 11. Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols. Verse 12. So I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah. Verse 13. When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound. Verse 14. For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them. Verse 15. Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

PSALM

Psalm 85

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. You showed favor to Your land, O LORD; You restored Jacob from captivity.

You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin.

You withheld all Your fury; You turned from Your burning anger.

Restore us, O God of our salvation, and put away Your displeasure toward us.

Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?

Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?

Show us Your loving devotion, O LORD, and grant us Your salvation.

I will listen to what God the LORD will say; for He will surely speak peace to His people and His saints; He will not let them return to folly.

Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land.

Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together; righteousness and peace have kissed.

Faithfulness sprouts from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

The LORD will indeed provide what is good, and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness will go before Him to prepare the way for His steps.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Esther 3:7-15

Verse 7. In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the Pur (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman to determine a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. Verse 8. Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. Verse 9. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will deposit ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury to pay those who carry it out.” Verse 10. So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. Verse 11. “Keep your money,” said the king to Haman. “These people are given to you to do with them as you please.” Verse 12. On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of each people, in the script of each province and the language of every people. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring. Verse 13. And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews— young and old, women and children— and to plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month. Verse 14. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that they would be ready on that day. Verse 15. The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.

PSALM

Psalm 138

Of David. I give You thanks with all my heart; before the gods I sing Your praises.

I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else.

On the day I called, You answered me; You emboldened me and strengthened my soul.

All the kings of the earth will give You thanks, O LORD, when they hear the words of Your mouth.

They will sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.

Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.

If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.

The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever — do not abandon the works of Your hands.

SECOND READING

Acts 2:22-36

Verse 22. Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. Verse 23. He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. Verse 24. But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep Him in its grip. Verse 25. David says about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Verse 26. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope, Verse 27. because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. Verse 28. You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’ Verse 29. Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Verse 30. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne. Verse 31. Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay. Verse 32. God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses. Verse 33. Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. Verse 34. For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand Verse 35. until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ Verse 36. Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”