Thursday in Season after Pentecost

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Isaiah 2:5-11

Verse 5. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. Verse 6. For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners. Verse 7. Their land is full of silver and gold, with no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, with no limit to their chariots. Verse 8. Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. Verse 9. So mankind is brought low, and man is humbled — do not forgive them! Verse 10. Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty. Verse 11. The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

PSALM

Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19

For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rally Your mighty power and come to save us.

You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.

You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered by its shade, and the mighty cedars with its branches.

It sent out its branches to the Sea, and its shoots toward the River.

Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit?

The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

Return, O God of Hosts, we pray! Look down from heaven and see! Attend to this vine—

the root Your right hand has planted, the son You have raised up for Yourself.

Your vine has been cut down and burned; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand, on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.

Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your name.

Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Joshua 7:1, 10-26

Verse 1. The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites. Verse 10. But the LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen on your face? Verse 11. Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions. Verse 12. This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction. Verse 13. Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them. Verse 14. In the morning you must present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD selects shall come forward clan by clan, and the clan that the LORD selects shall come forward family by family, and the family that the LORD selects shall come forward man by man. Verse 15. The one who is caught with the things devoted to destruction must be burned, along with all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrage in Israel.’” Verse 16. So Joshua arose early the next morning and had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected. Verse 17. He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward, and the family of Zabdi was selected. Verse 18. And he had the family of Zabdi come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected. Verse 19. So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.” Verse 20. “It is true,” Achan replied, “I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I did: Verse 21. When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” Verse 22. So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there it all was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. Verse 23. They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out before the LORD. Verse 24. Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor. Verse 25. “Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies. Verse 26. And they heaped over Achan a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. So the LORD turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.

PSALM

Psalm 82

A Psalm of Asaph. God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:

“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.

Rescue the weak and needy; save them from the hand of the wicked.

They do not know or understand; they wander in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’

But like mortals you will die, and like rulers you will fall.”

Arise, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are Your inheritance.

SECOND READING

Hebrews 10:26-31

Verse 26. If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, Verse 27. but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. Verse 28. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Verse 29. How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? Verse 30. For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.” Verse 31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.