Thursday 20 September 2007 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Thursday 20 September 2007 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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1 Kings 22:29-45

So the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went up to
Ramoth-gilead. 30The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, 'I will
disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.' So the
king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. 31Now the king of
Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, 'Fight with
no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.' 32When the
captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, 'It is surely the
king of Israel.' So they turned to fight against him; and Jehoshaphat
cried out. 33When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the
king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 34But a certain man
drew his bow and unknowingly struck the king of Israel between the
scale-armour and the breastplate; so he said to the driver of his
chariot, 'Turn around, and carry me out of the battle, for I am
wounded.' 35The battle grew hot that day, and the king was propped up in
his chariot facing the Arameans, until at evening he died; the blood
from the wound had flowed into the bottom of the chariot. 36Then about
sunset a shout went through the army, 'Every man to his city, and every
man to his country!' 
37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; they buried the king in
Samaria. 38They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; the dogs
licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it,*
according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken. 39Now the rest of
the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house that he
built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the
Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 40So Ahab slept with his
ancestors; and his son Ahaziah succeeded him. 
Jehoshaphat Reigns over Judah41 Jehoshaphat son of Asa began to reign
over Judah in the fourth year of King Ahab of Israel. 42Jehoshaphat was
thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for
twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah daughter of
Shilhi. 43He walked in all the way of his father Asa; he did not turn
aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord; yet the
high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and
offered incense on the high places. 44Jehoshaphat also made peace with
the king of Israel. 
45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his power that he
showed, and how he waged war, are they not written in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Judah?
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1 Corinthians 2:14-3:15

Those who are unspiritual* do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for
they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them
because they are discerned spiritually. 15Those who are spiritual
discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else's
scrutiny. 
16'For who has known the mind of the Lord
   so as to instruct him?'
But we have the mind of Christ. 
On Divisions in the Corinthian Church3And so, brothers and sisters,* I
could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the
flesh, as infants in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not solid food, for
you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready,
3for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and
quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according
to human inclinations? 4For when one says, 'I belong to Paul', and
another, 'I belong to Apollos', are you not merely human? 
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to
believe, as the Lord assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but
God gave the growth. 7So neither the one who plants nor the one who
waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8The one who
plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will
receive wages according to the labour of each. 9For we are God's
servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building. 
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master
builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each
builder must choose with care how to build on it. 11For no one can lay
any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is
Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw- 13the work of each builder
will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be
revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has
done. 14If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder
will receive a reward. 15If the work is burned, the builder will suffer
loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.
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Matthew 5:1-10

When Jesus* saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat
down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught
them, saying: 
3 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
4 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 
5 'Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 
6 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
will be filled. 
7 'Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 
8 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 
9 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 'Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 70, 71

Psalm 70

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
   O Lord, make haste to help me! 
2Let those be put to shame and confusion
   who seek my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonour
   who desire to hurt me. 
3Let those who say, 'Aha, Aha!'
   turn back because of their shame. 


4Let all who seek you
   rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation
   say evermore, 'God is great!' 
5But I am poor and needy;
   hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
   O Lord, do not delay!



Psalm 71

In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
   let me never be put to shame. 
2In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
   incline your ear to me and save me. 
3Be to me a rock of refuge,
   a strong fortress,* to save me,
   for you are my rock and my fortress. 


4Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
   from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. 
5For you, O Lord, are my hope,
   my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 
6Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
   it was you who took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you. 


7I have been like a portent to many,
   but you are my strong refuge. 
8My mouth is filled with your praise,
   and with your glory all day long. 
9Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
   do not forsake me when my strength is spent. 
10For my enemies speak concerning me,
   and those who watch for my life consult together. 
11They say, 'Pursue and seize that person
   whom God has forsaken,
   for there is no one to deliver.' 


12O God, do not be far from me;
   O my God, make haste to help me! 
13Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
   let those who seek to hurt me
   be covered with scorn and disgrace. 
14But I will hope continually,
   and will praise you yet more and more. 
15My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
   of your deeds of salvation all day long,
   though their number is past my knowledge. 
16I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God,
   I will praise your righteousness, yours alone. 


17O God, from my youth you have taught me,
   and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 
18So even to old age and grey hairs,
   O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might
   to all the generations to come.*
Your power 19and your righteousness, O God,
   reach the high heavens. 


You who have done great things,
   O God, who is like you? 
20You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
   will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
   you will bring me up again. 
21You will increase my honour,
   and comfort me once again. 


22I will also praise you with the harp
   for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
   O Holy One of Israel. 
23My lips will shout for joy
   when I sing praises to you;
   my soul also, which you have rescued. 
24All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help,
for those who tried to do me harm
   have been put to shame, and disgraced.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 74

Psalm 74

O God, why do you cast us off for ever?
   Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? 
2Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago,
   which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage.
   Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell. 
3Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
   the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary. 


4Your foes have roared within your holy place;
   they set up their emblems there. 
5At the upper entrance they hacked
   the wooden trellis with axes.* 
6And then, with hatchets and hammers,
   they smashed all its carved work. 
7They set your sanctuary on fire;
   they desecrated the dwelling-place of your name,
   bringing it to the ground. 
8They said to themselves, 'We will utterly subdue them';
   they burned all the meeting-places of God in the land. 


9We do not see our emblems;
   there is no longer any prophet,
   and there is no one among us who knows how long. 
10How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
   Is the enemy to revile your name for ever? 
11Why do you hold back your hand;
   why do you keep your hand in* your bosom? 


12Yet God my King is from of old,
   working salvation in the earth. 
13You divided the sea by your might;
   you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters. 
14You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
   you gave him as food* for the creatures of the wilderness. 
15You cut openings for springs and torrents;
   you dried up ever-flowing streams. 
16Yours is the day, yours also the night;
   you established the luminaries* and the sun. 
17You have fixed all the bounds of the earth;
   you made summer and winter. 


18Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
   and an impious people reviles your name. 
19Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals;
   do not forget the life of your poor for ever. 


20Have regard for your* covenant,
   for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence. 
21Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;
   let the poor and needy praise your name. 
22Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
   remember how the impious scoff at you all day long. 
23Do not forget the clamour of your foes,
   the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.
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