Monday 6 August 2007 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 6 August 2007 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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2 Samuel 7:1-17

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him
rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet
Nathan, 'See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God
stays in a tent.' Nathan said to the king, 'Go, do all that you have in
mind; for the Lord is with you.' 
But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my
servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house
to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the
people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in
a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the
people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders
of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, 'Why
have you not built me a house of cedar?' Now therefore thus you shall
say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from
the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people
Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all
your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like
the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for
my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own
place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no
more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people
Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the
Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days
are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your
offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will
establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will
establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him
with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings.
But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul,
whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be
made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.
In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan
spoke to David.
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Acts 18:1-11

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew
named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with
his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome.
Paul went to see them, and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed
with them, and they worked together-by trade they were tentmakers. Every
sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews
and Greeks. 
When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with
proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus.
When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his
clothes and said to them, 'Your blood be on your own heads! I am
innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.' Then he left the
synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a
worshipper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus,
the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together
with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul
became believers and were baptized. One night the Lord said to Paul in a
vision, 'Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with
you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many
in this city who are my people.' He stayed there for a year and six
months, teaching the word of God among them. 
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Mark 8:11-21

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign
from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said,
'Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will
be given to this generation.' And he left them, and getting into the
boat again, he went across to the other side. 
Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only
one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, 'Watch
out-beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.' They
said to one another, 'It is because we have no bread.' And becoming
aware of it, Jesus said to them, 'Why are you talking about having no
bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts
hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail
to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the
five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?'
They said to him, 'Twelve.' 'And the seven for the four thousand, how
many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?' And they said to
him, 'Seven.' Then he said to them, 'Do you not yet understand?' 
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 80

Psalm 80

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
   you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 
   before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
   and come to save us! 


Restore us, O God;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. 


O Lord God of hosts,
   how long will you be angry with your people's prayers? 
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
   and given them tears to drink in full measure. 
You make us the scorn of our neighbours;
   our enemies laugh among themselves. 


Restore us, O God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. 


You brought a vine out of Egypt;
   you drove out the nations and planted it. 
You cleared the ground for it;
   it took deep root and filled the land. 
The mountains were covered with its shade,
   the mighty cedars with its branches; 
it sent out its branches to the sea,
   and its shoots to the River. 
Why then have you broken down its walls,
   so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 
The boar from the forest ravages it,
   and all that move in the field feed on it. 


Turn again, O God of hosts;
   look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine, 
   the stock that your right hand planted. 
They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;
   may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 
But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
   the one whom you made strong for yourself. 
Then we will never turn back from you;
   give us life, and we will call on your name. 


Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 77, 79

Psalm 77

I cry aloud to God,
   aloud to God, that he may hear me. 
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
   in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
   my soul refuses to be comforted. 
I think of God, and I moan;
   I meditate, and my spirit faints.
          Selah 


You keep my eyelids from closing;
   I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 
I consider the days of old,
   and remember the years of long ago. 
I commune with my heart in the night;
   I meditate and search my spirit: 
'Will the Lord spurn for ever,
   and never again be favourable? 
Has his steadfast love ceased for ever?
   Are his promises at an end for all time? 
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
   Has he in anger shut up his compassion?'
          Selah 
And I say, 'It is my grief
   that the right hand of the Most High has changed.' 


I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
   I will remember your wonders of old. 
I will meditate on all your work,
   and muse on your mighty deeds. 
Your way, O God, is holy.
   What god is so great as our God? 
You are the God who works wonders;
   you have displayed your might among the peoples. 
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
   the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
          Selah 


When the waters saw you, O God,
   when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
   the very deep trembled. 
The clouds poured out water;
   the skies thundered;
   your arrows flashed on every side. 
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
   your lightnings lit up the world;
   the earth trembled and shook. 
Your way was through the sea,
   your path, through the mighty waters;
   yet your footprints were unseen. 
You led your people like a flock
   by the hand of Moses and Aaron.



Psalm 79

O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
   they have defiled your holy temple;
   they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. 
They have given the bodies of your servants
   to the birds of the air for food,
   the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth. 
They have poured out their blood like water
   all around Jerusalem,
   and there was no one to bury them. 
We have become a taunt to our neighbours,
   mocked and derided by those around us. 


How long, O Lord? Will you be angry for ever?
   Will your jealous wrath burn like fire? 
Pour out your anger on the nations
   that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
   that do not call on your name. 
For they have devoured Jacob
   and laid waste his habitation. 


Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;
   let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
   for we are brought very low. 
Help us, O God of our salvation,
   for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and forgive our sins,
   for your name's sake. 
Why should the nations say,
   'Where is their God?'
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
   be known among the nations before our eyes. 


Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
   according to your great power preserve those doomed to die. 
Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbours
   the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord! 
Then we your people, the flock of your pasture,
   will give thanks to you for ever;
   from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
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