Sunday 4 November 2007 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Sunday 4 November 2007 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Nehemiah 5:1-19

Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against
their Jewish kin. For there were those who said, 'With our sons and our
daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay
alive.' There were also those who said, 'We are having to pledge our
fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the
famine.' And there were those who said, 'We are having to borrow money
on our fields and vineyards to pay the king's tax. Now our flesh is the
same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their
children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves,
and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our
fields and vineyards now belong to others.'

 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. After
thinking it over, I brought charges against the nobles and the
officials; I said to them, 'You are all taking interest from your own
people.' And I called a great assembly to deal with them, and said to
them, 'As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred
who had been sold to other nations; but now you are selling your own
kin, who must then be bought back by us!' They were silent, and could
not find a word to say. So I said, 'The thing that you are doing is not
good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God, to prevent the taunts
of the nations our enemies? Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants
are lending them money and grain. Let us stop this taking of interest.
Restore to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their
olive orchards, and their houses, and the interest on money, grain,
wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.' Then they said,
'We will restore everything and demand nothing more from them. We will
do as you say.' And I called the priests, and made them take an oath to
do as they had promised. I also shook out the fold of my garment and
said, 'So may God shake out everyone from house and from property who
does not perform this promise. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied.'
And all the assembly said, 'Amen', and praised the Lord. And the people
did as they had promised.

 Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in
the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of
King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food
allowance of the governor. The former governors who were before me laid
heavy burdens on the people, and took food and wine from them, besides
forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people.
But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. Indeed, I devoted
myself to the work on this wall, and acquired no land; and all my
servants were gathered there for the work. Moreover, there were at my
table one hundred and fifty people, Jews and officials, besides those
who came to us from the nations around us. Now that which was prepared
for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared
for me, and every ten days skins of wine in abundance; yet with all this
I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because of the
heavy burden of labour on the people. Remember for my good, O my God,
all that I have done for this people.
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Acts 20:7-12

On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was
holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day,
he continued speaking until midnight. There were many lamps in the room
upstairs where we were meeting. A young man named Eutychus, who was
sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul
talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three
floors below and was picked up dead. But Paul went down, and bending
over him took him in his arms, and said, 'Do not be alarmed, for his
life is in him.' Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread
and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left.
Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little
comforted.
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Luke 12:22-31

He said to his disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your
life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For
life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the
ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor
barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the
birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of
life?* If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do
you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they
neither toil nor spin;* yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory
was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of
the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
how much more will he clothe you-you of little faith! And do not keep
striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not
keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all
these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive
for his* kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 24, 29

Psalm 24

The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it,
   the world, and those who live in it; 
for he has founded it on the seas,
   and established it on the rivers. 


Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
   And who shall stand in his holy place? 
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
   who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
   and do not swear deceitfully. 
They will receive blessing from the Lord,
   and vindication from the God of their salvation. 
Such is the company of those who seek him,
   who seek the face of the God of Jacob.*
          Selah 


Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in. 
Who is the King of glory?
   The Lord, strong and mighty,
   the Lord, mighty in battle. 
Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in. 
Who is this King of glory?
   The Lord of hosts,
   he is the King of glory.
          Selah



Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,*
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
   worship the Lord in holy splendour. 


The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters. 
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 


The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
   the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
   and Sirion like a young wild ox. 


The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
   the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 


The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,*
   and strips the forest bare;
   and in his temple all say, 'Glory!' 


The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
   the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever. 
May the Lord give strength to his people!
   May the Lord bless his people with peace!
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 8, 84

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth! 


You have set your glory above the heavens. 
   Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
   to silence the enemy and the avenger. 


When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established; 
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals* that you care for them? 


Yet you have made them a little lower than God,*
   and crowned them with glory and honour. 
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet, 
all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field, 
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 


O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!



Psalm 84

How lovely is your dwelling place,
   O Lord of hosts! 
My soul longs, indeed it faints
   for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
   to the living God. 


Even the sparrow finds a home,
   and the swallow a nest for herself,
   where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
   my King and my God. 
Happy are those who live in your house,
   ever singing your praise.
          Selah 


Happy are those whose strength is in you,
   in whose heart are the highways to Zion.* 
As they go through the valley of Baca
   they make it a place of springs;
   the early rain also covers it with pools. 
They go from strength to strength;
   the God of gods will be seen in Zion. 


O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
   give ear, O God of Jacob!
          Selah 
Behold our shield, O God;
   look on the face of your anointed. 


For a day in your courts is better
   than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
   than live in the tents of wickedness. 
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
   he bestows favour and honour.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
   from those who walk uprightly. 
O Lord of hosts,
   happy is everyone who trusts in you.
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