Proper 18 (23) — Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 18:1-11

Verse 1. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: Verse 2. “Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will give you My message.” Verse 3. So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the wheel. Verse 4. But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do. Verse 5. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Verse 6. “O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. Verse 7. At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed. Verse 8. But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring. Verse 9. And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom, Verse 10. and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it. Verse 11. Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’

PSALM

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!

If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Verse 15. See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, as well as death and disaster. Verse 16. For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. Verse 17. But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, Verse 18. I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. Verse 19. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, Verse 20. and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

PSALM

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

SECOND READING

Philemon 1:1-21

Verse 1. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker, Verse 2. to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets at your house: Verse 3. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 4. I always thank my God, remembering you in my prayers, Verse 5. because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. Verse 6. I pray that your partnership in the faith may become effective as you fully acknowledge every good thing that is ours in Christ. Verse 7. I take great joy and encouragement in your love, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. Verse 8. So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper, Verse 9. I prefer to appeal on the basis of love. For I, Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well. Verse 10. I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains. Verse 11. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. Verse 12. I am sending back to you him who is my very heart. Verse 13. I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel. Verse 14. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will. Verse 15. For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for good — Verse 16. no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a beloved brother. He is especially beloved to me, but even more so to you, both in person and in the Lord. Verse 17. So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. Verse 18. But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account. Verse 19. I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it— not to mention that you owe me your very self. Verse 20. Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Verse 21. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

GOSPEL

Luke 14:25-33

Verse 25. Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them, Verse 26. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be My disciple. Verse 27. And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. Verse 28. Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? Verse 29. Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, Verse 30. saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’ Verse 31. Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Verse 32. And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace. Verse 33. In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.