Saturday 24 March 2007 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Saturday 24 March 2007
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Jeremiah 23:9-15

Concerning the prophets:
My heart is crushed within me,
   all my bones shake;
I have become like a drunkard,
   like one overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
   and because of his holy words. 
For the land is full of adulterers;
   because of the curse the land mourns,
   and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course has been evil,
   and their might is not right. 
Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
   even in my house I have found their wickedness, 
says the Lord. 
Therefore their way shall be to them
   like slippery paths in the darkness,
   into which they shall be driven and fall;
for I will bring disaster upon them
   in the year of their punishment, 
says the Lord. 
In the prophets of Samaria
   I saw a disgusting thing:
they prophesied by Baal
   and led my people Israel astray. 
But in the prophets of Jerusalem
   I have seen a more shocking thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
   they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
   so that no one turns from wickedness;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
   and its inhabitants like Gomorrah. 
Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
‘I am going to make them eat wormwood,
   and give them poisoned water to drink;
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
   ungodliness has spread throughout the land.’ 
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Romans 9:1-18

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms
it by the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my
heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from
Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the
flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory,
the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to
them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh,
comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. 
It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all Israelites
truly belong to Israel, and not all of Abraham’s children are his true
descendants; but ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named
after you.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are
the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as
descendants. For this is what the promise said, ‘About this time I will
return and Sarah shall have a son.’ Nor is that all; something similar
happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our
ancestor Isaac. Even before they had been born or had done anything good
or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue, not by works
but by his call) she was told, ‘The elder shall serve the younger.’ As
it is written,
‘I have loved Jacob,
   but I have hated Esau.’ 
What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
For he says to Moses,
‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
   and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ 
So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.
For the scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘I have raised you up for the very
purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed
in all the earth.’ So then he has mercy on whomsoever he chooses, and
he hardens the heart of whomsoever he chooses.
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John 6:60-71

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is
difficult; who can accept it?’ But Jesus, being aware that his
disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend
you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he
was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The
words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there
are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the
ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.
And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to
me unless it is granted by the Father.’ 
Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went
about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go
away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the
words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the
Holy One of God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the
twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.’ He was speaking of Judas son of
Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray
him.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 107:33-43, 108:1-13

Psalm 107:33-43

He turns rivers into a desert,
   springs of water into thirsty ground, 
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
   because of the wickedness of its inhabitants. 
He turns a desert into pools of water,
   a parched land into springs of water. 
And there he lets the hungry live,
   and they establish a town to live in; 
they sow fields, and plant vineyards,
   and get a fruitful yield. 
By his blessing they multiply greatly,
   and he does not let their cattle decrease. 


When they are diminished and brought low
   through oppression, trouble, and sorrow, 
he pours contempt on princes
   and makes them wander in trackless wastes; 
but he raises up the needy out of distress,
   and makes their families like flocks. 
The upright see it and are glad;
   and all wickedness stops its mouth. 
Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
   and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.



Psalm 108:1-13

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
   I will sing and make melody.
   Awake, my soul! 
Awake, O harp and lyre!
   I will awake the dawn. 
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples,
   and I will sing praises to you among the nations. 
For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
   and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. 


Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
   and let your glory be over all the earth. 
Give victory with your right hand, and answer me,
   so that those whom you love may be rescued. 


God has promised in his sanctuary:
   ‘With exultation I will divide up Shechem,
   and portion out the Vale of Succoth. 
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
   Ephraim is my helmet;
   Judah is my sceptre. 
Moab is my wash-basin;
   on Edom I hurl my shoe;
   over Philistia I shout in triumph.’ 


Who will bring me to the fortified city?
   Who will lead me to Edom? 
Have you not rejected us, O God?
   You do not go out, O God, with our armies. 
O grant us help against the foe,
   for human help is worthless. 
With God we shall do valiantly;
   it is he who will tread down our foes.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 33

Psalm 33

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
   Praise befits the upright. 
Praise the Lord with the lyre;
   make melody to him with the harp of ten strings. 
Sing to him a new song;
   play skilfully on the strings, with loud shouts. 


For the word of the Lord is upright,
   and all his work is done in faithfulness. 
He loves righteousness and justice;
   the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. 


By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
   and all their host by the breath of his mouth. 
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
   he put the deeps in storehouses. 


Let all the earth fear the Lord;
   let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 
For he spoke, and it came to be;
   he commanded, and it stood firm. 


The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
   he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 
The counsel of the Lord stands for ever,
   the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
   the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. 


The Lord looks down from heaven;
   he sees all humankind. 
>From where he sits enthroned he watches
   all the inhabitants of the earth— 
he who fashions the hearts of them all,
   and observes all their deeds. 
A king is not saved by his great army;
   a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. 
The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
   and by its great might it cannot save. 


Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
   on those who hope in his steadfast love, 
to deliver their soul from death,
   and to keep them alive in famine. 


Our soul waits for the Lord;
   he is our help and shield. 
Our heart is glad in him,
   because we trust in his holy name. 
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
   even as we hope in you.
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