Open Word

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Lamentations 1:1-6

Verse 1. How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave. Verse 2. She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. Verse 3. Judah has gone into exile under affliction and harsh slavery; she dwells among the nations but finds no place to rest. All her pursuers have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. Verse 4. The roads to Zion mourn, because no one comes to her appointed feasts. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her maidens grieve, and she herself is bitter with anguish. Verse 5. Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy. Verse 6. All the splendor has departed from the Daughter of Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pasture; they lack the strength to flee in the face of the hunter.

PSALM

Lamentations 3:19-26

Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall.

Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me.

Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:

Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.

They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

PSALM

Psalm 137

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

There on the willows we hung our harps,

for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”

How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.

May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!

Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”

O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.

Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

Text not available in the Berean Standard Bible.

PSALM

Psalm 37:1-9

Of David. Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.

For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.

He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret— it can only bring harm.

For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

SECOND READING

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, Verse 2. To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Verse 3. I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers. Verse 4. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. Verse 5. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well. Verse 6. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Verse 7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. Verse 8. So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. Verse 9. He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began. Verse 10. And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel, Verse 11. to which I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. Verse 12. For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day. Verse 13. Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Verse 14. Guard the treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

GOSPEL

Luke 17:5-10

Verse 5. The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Verse 6. And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. Verse 7. Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? Verse 8. Instead, won’t he tell him, ‘Prepare my meal and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you may eat and drink’? Verse 9. Does he thank the servant because he did what he was told? Verse 10. So you also, when you have done everything commanded of you, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”