Saturday 5 May 2007 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Saturday 5 May 2007 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Wisdom 7:1-14

I also am mortal, like everyone else,
a descendant of the first-formed child of earth;
and in the womb of a mother I was moulded into flesh, 
within the period of ten months, compacted with blood,
from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage. 
And when I was born, I began to breathe the common air,
and fell upon the kindred earth;
my first sound was a cry, as is true of all. 
I was nursed with care in swaddling cloths. 
For no king has had a different beginning of existence; 
there is for all one entrance into life, and one way out. 
Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. 
I preferred her to sceptres and thrones,
and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her. 
Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem,
because all gold is but a little sand in her sight,
and silver will be accounted as clay before her. 
I loved her more than health and beauty,
and I chose to have her rather than light,
because her radiance never ceases. 
All good things came to me along with her,
and in her hands uncounted wealth. 
I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom leads them;
but I did not know that she was their mother. 
I learned without guile and I impart without grudging;
I do not hide her wealth, 
for it is an unfailing treasure for mortals;
those who get it obtain friendship with God,
commended for the gifts that come from instruction.
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Colossians 3:12-17

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one
another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each
other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together
in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to
which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in
all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do
everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him.
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Luke 7:18-35

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned
two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one
who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ When the men had come
to him, they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, “Are
you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” ’ Jesus had
just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and
had given sight to many who were blind. And he answered them, ‘Go and
tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are
raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone
who takes no offence at me.’

When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds
about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed
shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in
soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are
in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I
tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is
written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
   who will prepare your way before you.” 
I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet
the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.’ (And all the
people who heard this, including the tax-collectors, acknowledged the
justice of God, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. But
by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers
rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)

‘To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are
they like? They are like children sitting in the market-place and
calling to one another,
“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
   we wailed, and you did not weep.” 
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and
you say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking,
and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors
and sinners!” Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.’
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 55

Psalm 55

Give ear to my prayer, O God;
   do not hide yourself from my supplication. 
Attend to me, and answer me;
   I am troubled in my complaint.
I am distraught by the noise of the enemy,
   because of the clamour of the wicked.
For they bring trouble upon me,
   and in anger they cherish enmity against me. 


My heart is in anguish within me,
   the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 
Fear and trembling come upon me,
   and horror overwhelms me. 
And I say, ‘O that I had wings like a dove!
   I would fly away and be at rest; 
truly, I would flee far away;
   I would lodge in the wilderness;
          Selah 
I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
   from the raging wind and tempest.’ 


Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech;
   for I see violence and strife in the city. 
Day and night they go around it
   on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it; 
   ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
   do not depart from its market-place. 


It is not enemies who taunt me—
   I could bear that;
it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me—
   I could hide from them. 
But it is you, my equal,
   my companion, my familiar friend, 
with whom I kept pleasant company;
   we walked in the house of God with the throng. 
Let death come upon them;
   let them go down alive to Sheol;
   for evil is in their homes and in their hearts. 


But I call upon God,
   and the Lord will save me. 
Evening and morning and at noon
   I utter my complaint and moan,
   and he will hear my voice. 
He will redeem me unharmed
   from the battle that I wage,
   for many are arrayed against me. 
God, who is enthroned from of old,
          Selah
   will hear, and will humble them—
because they do not change,
   and do not fear God. 


My companion laid hands on a friend
   and violated a covenant with me 
with speech smoother than butter,
   but with a heart set on war;
with words that were softer than oil,
   but in fact were drawn swords. 


Cast your burden on the Lord,
   and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
   the righteous to be moved. 


But you, O God, will cast them down
   into the lowest pit;
the bloodthirsty and treacherous
   shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 138, 139:1-35

Psalm 138

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
   before the gods I sing your praise; 
I bow down towards your holy temple
   and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your
faithfulness;
   for you have exalted your name and your word
   above everything. 
On the day I called, you answered me,
   you increased my strength of soul. 


All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
   for they have heard the words of your mouth. 
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
   for great is the glory of the Lord. 
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
   but the haughty he perceives from far away. 


Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
   you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
   and your right hand delivers me. 
The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
   your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.
   Do not forsake the work of your hands.



Psalm 139:1-35

O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away. 
You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways. 
Even before a word is on my tongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely. 
You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me. 
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is so high that I cannot attain it. 


Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence? 
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 
If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 
even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast. 
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light around me become night’, 
even the darkness is not dark to you;
   the night is as bright as the day,
   for darkness is as light to you. 


For it was you who formed my inward parts;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
   Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well. 
   My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
   intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
   all the days that were formed for me,
   when none of them as yet existed. 
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
   How vast is the sum of them! 
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
   I come to the end—I am still with you. 


O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
   and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me— 
those who speak of you maliciously,
   and lift themselves up against you for evil! 
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
   And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 
I hate them with perfect hatred;
   I count them my enemies. 
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my thoughts. 
See if there is any wicked way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.
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