Second Sunday after Pentecost	June 7, 2026
Prayer of the Day
O God, you are the protector of all who trust in you, and beside you, nothing is strong or holy. Multiply your mercy and guide us that while using the good things of this fleeting life, we do not lose hold of the things that endure forever. Grant this, we pray, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
First Reading: Hosea 5:15-6:6
15I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. 
1“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” 4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Psalm 119:65-72
65O Lord, you have dealt graciously | with your servant,*
	according | to your word.
66Teach me discern- | ment and knowledge,*
	for I have believed | in your commandments.
67Before I was afflicted I | went astray,*
	but now I | keep your word.
68You are good and you | bring forth good;*
	instruct me | in your statutes.
69The proud have smeared | me with lies,*
	but I will keep your commandments with | my whole heart.
70Their heart is | gross and fat,*
	but my delight is | in your law.
71It is good for me that I have | been afflicted,*
	that I might | learn your statutes.
72The law of your mouth is dear- | er to me*
	than thousands in | gold and silver.
Psalm 119:65-72 (ESV)
65You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word.
66Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.
67Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
68You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.
69The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;
70their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law.
71It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
72The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Second Reading: Romans 4:13-25
13For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring — not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13
9As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 10And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Next Week’s Readings:
Exodus 19:2-8; Psalm 100; Romans 5:6-15; Matthew 9:35-10:8 [9-20]