Wednesday in Season after Pentecost

Semicontinuous (Track 1)

FIRST READING

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Verse 17. Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, Verse 18. yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! Verse 19. GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights!

PSALM

Psalm 142

A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.

I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.

Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.

Look to my right and see; no one attends to me. There is no refuge for me; no one cares for my soul.

I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

Listen to my cry, for I am brought quite low. Rescue me from my pursuers, for they are too strong for me.

Free my soul from prison, that I may praise Your name. The righteous will gather around me because of Your goodness to me.

Complementary (Track 2)

FIRST READING

Amos 5:12-24

Verse 12. For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate. Verse 13. Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil. Verse 14. Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed. Verse 15. Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” Verse 16. Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail. Verse 17. There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” Verse 18. Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light. Verse 19. It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake. Verse 20. Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it? Verse 21. “I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Verse 22. Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard. Verse 23. Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Verse 24. But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

PSALM

Psalm 50

A Psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets.

From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.

He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people:

“Gather to Me My saints, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge.

“Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.

I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.

I have no need for a bull from your stall or goats from your pens,

for every beast of the forest is Mine — the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?

For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.

When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.

You unleash your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit.

You sit and malign your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.

You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rightly orders his way, I will show the salvation of God.”

SECOND READING

Luke 19:11-27

Verse 11. While the people were listening to this, Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently. Verse 12. So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return. Verse 13. Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said. Verse 14. But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’ Verse 15. When he returned from procuring his kingship, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned. Verse 16. The first servant came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced ten more minas.’ Verse 17. His master replied, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ Verse 18. The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’ Verse 19. And to this one he said, ‘You shall have authority over five cities.’ Verse 20. Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth. Verse 21. For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’ Verse 22. His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Verse 23. Why then did you not deposit my money in the bank, and upon my return I could have collected it with interest?’ Verse 24. Then he told those standing by, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ Verse 25. ‘Master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ Verse 26. He replied, ‘ I tell you that everyone who has will be given more; but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Verse 27. And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”