Lord Jesus Christ, whose grace always precedes and follows us, help us to forsake all trust in earthly gain and to find in You our heavenly treasure; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

6Seek the Lord and live,
            lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
            and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
7O you who turn justice to wormwood
            and cast down righteousness to the earth! . . .

10They hate him who reproves in the gate,
            and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
11Therefore because you trample on the poor
            and you exact taxes of grain from him,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
            but you shall not dwell in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
            but you shall not drink their wine.
12For I know how many are your transgressions
            and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
            and turn aside the needy in the gate.
13Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,
            for it is an evil time.
14Seek good, and not evil,
            that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
            as you have said.
15Hate evil, and love good,
            and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
            will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

 

L: Praise the Lord! Blessèd is the man who fears the Lord,
C: who greatly delights in his commandments!
L: Wealth and riches are in his house,
C: and his righteousness endures forever.
L: Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
C: he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
L: It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
C: who conducts his affairs with justice.
L: For the righteous will never be moved;
C: he will be remembered forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
L: Praise the Lord! Blessèd is the man who fears the Lord,
C: who greatly delights in his commandments!

 

12Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

 

 

17As [Jesus] was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.