Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 7:27-34

Verse 27. When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer. Verse 28. Therefore you must say to them, ‘This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the LORD their God and would not receive correction. Truth has perished; it has disappeared from their lips. Verse 29. Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’ Verse 30. For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it. Verse 31. They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire — something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind. Verse 32. So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. Verse 33. The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away. Verse 34. I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”

PSALM

Psalm 10

Why, O LORD, do You stand far off? Why do You hide in times of trouble?

In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.

For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.

In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.

He is secure in his ways at all times; Your lofty judgments are far from him; he sneers at all his foes.

He says to himself, “I will not be moved; from age to age I am free of distress.”

His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.

He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net.

They are crushed and beaten down; the helpless fall prey to his strength.

He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”

Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! Do not forget the helpless.

Why has the wicked man renounced God? He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”

But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call him to account for his wickedness until none is left to be found.

The LORD is King forever and ever; the nations perish from His land.

You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear,

to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed, that the men of the earth may strike terror no more.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Ezekiel 20:33-44

Verse 33. As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will rule over you. Verse 34. With a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered. Verse 35. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face. Verse 36. Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. Verse 37. I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. Verse 38. And I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land in which they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Verse 39. And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols. Verse 40. For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your offerings and choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices. Verse 41. When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will show My holiness through you in the sight of the nations. Verse 42. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land that I swore to give your fathers. Verse 43. There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done. Verse 44. Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD.”

PSALM

Psalm 109:21-31

But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.

For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.

I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.

My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.

I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.

Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your loving devotion.

Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O LORD, have done it.

Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.

May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.

With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely; I will praise Him in the presence of many.

For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.

SECOND READING

Luke 6:6-11

Verse 6. On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. Verse 7. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. Verse 8. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there. Verse 9. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” Verse 10. And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored. Verse 11. But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.