Saturday 28 April 2007 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Saturday 28 April 2007 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Daniel 6:16-28

Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into
the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, ‘May your God, whom you
faithfully serve, deliver you!’ A stone was brought and laid on the
mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with
the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning
Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting;
no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions.
When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to
Daniel, ‘O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you
faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?’ Daniel then
said to the king, ‘O king, live for ever! My God sent his angel and
shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was
found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no
wrong.’ Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be
taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no
kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. The
king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and
thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives.
Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them
and broke all their bones in pieces.

Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language
throughout the whole world: ‘May you have abundant prosperity! I make a
decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear
before the God of Daniel:
For he is the living God,
   enduring for ever.
His kingdom shall never be destroyed,
   and his dominion has no end. 
He delivers and rescues,
   he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth;
for he has saved Daniel
   from the power of the lions.’ 
So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of
Cyrus the Persian.
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3 John 1-15

The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in
good health, just as it is well with your soul. I was overjoyed when
some of the friends arrived and testified to your faithfulness to the
truth, namely, how you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than
this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the friends, even though
they are strangers to you; they have testified to your love before the
church. You will do well to send them on in a manner worthy of God; for
they began their journey for the sake of Christ, accepting no support
from non-believers. Therefore we ought to support such people, so that
we may become co-workers with the truth.

I have written something to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to put
himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will
call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against
us. And not content with those charges, he refuses to welcome the
friends, and even prevents those who want to do so and expels them from
the church.

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever
does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. Everyone has
testified favourably about Demetrius, and so has the truth itself. We
also testify for him, and you know that our testimony is true.

I have much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and
ink; instead I hope to see you soon, and we will talk together face to
face.

Peace to you. The friends send you their greetings. Greet the friends
there, each by name.
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Luke 5:27-39

After this he went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi, sitting at
the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up, left
everything, and followed him.

Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a
large crowd of tax-collectors and others sitting at the table with
them. The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his
disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and
sinners?’ Jesus answered, ‘Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the
righteous but sinners to repentance.’

Then they said to him, ‘John’s disciples, like the disciples of the
Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.’
Jesus said to them, ‘You cannot make wedding-guests fast while the
bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the
bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in
those days.’ He also told them a parable: ‘No one tears a piece from a
new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be
torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one
puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the
skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine
must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine
desires new wine, but says, “The old is good.” ’
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 30, 32

Psalm 30

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,
   and did not let my foes rejoice over me. 
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
   and you have healed me. 
O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
   restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. 


Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
   and give thanks to his holy name. 
For his anger is but for a moment;
   his favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
   but joy comes with the morning. 


As for me, I said in my prosperity,
   ‘I shall never be moved.’ 
By your favour, O Lord,
   you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
   I was dismayed. 


To you, O Lord, I cried,
   and to the Lord I made supplication: 
‘What profit is there in my death,
   if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
   Will it tell of your faithfulness? 
Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
   O Lord, be my helper!’ 


You have turned my mourning into dancing;
   you have taken off my sackcloth
   and clothed me with joy, 
so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
   O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you for ever.



Psalm 32

Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
   whose sin is covered. 
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
   and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 


While I kept silence, my body wasted away
   through my groaning all day long. 
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
   my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
          Selah 


Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
   and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’,
   and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
          Selah 


Therefore let all who are faithful
   offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
   shall not reach them. 
You are a hiding-place for me;
   you preserve me from trouble;
   you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
          Selah 


I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
   I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
   whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
   else it will not stay near you. 


Many are the torments of the wicked,
   but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. 
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
   and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 42, 43

Psalm 42

As a deer longs for flowing streams,
   so my soul longs for you, O God. 
My soul thirsts for God,
   for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
   the face of God? 
My tears have been my food
   day and night,
while people say to me continually,
   ‘Where is your God?’ 


These things I remember,
   as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
   and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
   a multitude keeping festival. 
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my help and my God. 


My soul is cast down within me;
   therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
   from Mount Mizar. 
Deep calls to deep
   at the thunder of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
   have gone over me. 
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
   and at night his song is with me,
   a prayer to the God of my life. 


I say to God, my rock,
   ‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
   because the enemy oppresses me?’ 
As with a deadly wound in my body,
   my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
   ‘Where is your God?’ 


Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my help and my God.



Psalm 43

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
   against an ungodly people;
from those who are deceitful and unjust
   deliver me! 
For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
   why have you cast me off?
Why must I walk about mournfully
   because of the oppression of the enemy? 


O send out your light and your truth;
   let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
   and to your dwelling. 
Then I will go to the altar of God,
   to God my exceeding joy;
and I will praise you with the harp,
   O God, my God. 


Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my help and my God.
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