Tuesday 11 December 2007 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Tuesday 11 December 2007 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Amos 7:10-17

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel,
saying, 'Amos has conspired against you in the very centre of the house
of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. 11For thus Amos
has said,
"Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
   and Israel must go into exile
   away from his land." ' 
12And Amaziah said to Amos, 'O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah,
earn your bread there, and prophesy there; 13but never again prophesy at
Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the
kingdom.' 
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, 'I am* no prophet, nor a prophet's son;
but I am* a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore trees, 15and the Lord
took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, "Go, prophesy
to my people Israel." 
16'Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
You say, "Do not prophesy against Israel,
   and do not preach against the house of Isaac." 
17Therefore, thus says the Lord:
"Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city,
   and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
   and your land shall be parcelled out by line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
   and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land." ' 
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Revelation 1:9-16

I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and
the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos
because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.* 10I was in the
spirit* on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a
trumpet 11saying, 'Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven
churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to
Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.' 
12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on
turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and in the midst of the
lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and
with a golden sash across his chest. 14His head and his hair were white
as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his
feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice
was like the sound of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven
stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face
was like the sun shining with full force.
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Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together, 35and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to
test him. 36'Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?'
37He said to him, ' "You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." 38This is the
greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: "You shall
love your neighbour as yourself." 40On these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets.' 
The Question about David's Son41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them this question: 42'What do you think of the
Messiah?* Whose son is he?' They said to him, 'The son of David.' 43He
said to them, 'How is it then that David by the Spirit* calls him Lord,
saying, 
44"The Lord said to my Lord,
'Sit at my right hand,
   until I put your enemies under your feet' "? 
45If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?' 46No one was
able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him
any more questions.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 26, 28

Psalm 26

Vindicate me, O Lord,
   for I have walked in my integrity,
   and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. 
2Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
   test my heart and mind. 
3For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
   and I walk in faithfulness to you.* 


4I do not sit with the worthless,
   nor do I consort with hypocrites; 
5I hate the company of evildoers,
   and will not sit with the wicked. 


6I wash my hands in innocence,
   and go around your altar, O Lord, 
7singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
   and telling all your wondrous deeds. 


8O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,
   and the place where your glory abides. 
9Do not sweep me away with sinners,
   nor my life with the bloodthirsty, 
10those in whose hands are evil devices,
   and whose right hands are full of bribes. 


11But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
   redeem me, and be gracious to me. 
12My foot stands on level ground;
   in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.


Psalm 28

To you, O Lord, I call;
   my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
   I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 
2Hear the voice of my supplication,
   as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
   towards your most holy sanctuary.* 


3Do not drag me away with the wicked,
   with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbours,
   while mischief is in their hearts. 
4Repay them according to their work,
   and according to the evil of their deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
   render them their due reward. 
5Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
   or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more. 


6Blessed be the Lord,
   for he has heard the sound of my pleadings. 
7The Lord is my strength and my shield;
   in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
   and with my song I give thanks to him. 


8The Lord is the strength of his people;
   he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 
9O save your people, and bless your heritage;
   be their shepherd, and carry them for ever.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 36, 39

Psalm 36

Transgression speaks to the wicked
   deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
   before their eyes. 
2For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
   that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 
3The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
   they have ceased to act wisely and do good. 
4They plot mischief while on their beds;
   they are set on a way that is not good;
   they do not reject evil. 


5Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
   your faithfulness to the clouds. 
6Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
   your judgements are like the great deep;
   you save humans and animals alike, O Lord. 


7How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
   All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 
8They feast on the abundance of your house,
   and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 
9For with you is the fountain of life;
   in your light we see light. 


10O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
   and your salvation to the upright of heart! 
11Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
   or the hand of the wicked drive me away. 
12There the evildoers lie prostrate;
   they are thrust down, unable to rise.


Psalm 39

I said, 'I will guard my ways
   that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
   as long as the wicked are in my presence.' 
2I was silent and still;
   I held my peace to no avail;
my distress grew worse, 
3   my heart became hot within me.
While I mused, the fire burned;
   then I spoke with my tongue: 


4'Lord, let me know my end,
   and what is the measure of my days;
   let me know how fleeting my life is. 
5You have made my days a few handbreadths,
   and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight.
Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. 
          Selah 
6   Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
   they heap up, and do not know who will gather. 


7'And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
   My hope is in you. 
8Deliver me from all my transgressions.
   Do not make me the scorn of the fool. 
9I am silent; I do not open my mouth,
   for it is you who have done it. 
10Remove your stroke from me;
   I am worn down by the blows* of your hand. 


11'You chastise mortals
   in punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is dear to them;
   surely everyone is a mere breath. 
          Selah


12'Hear my prayer, O Lord,
   and give ear to my cry;
   do not hold your peace at my tears.
For I am your passing guest,
   an alien, like all my forebears. 
13Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again,
   before I depart and am no more.'
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