Tuesday 25 September 2007 DAILY LECTIONARY

[info at dailylectionary.org]

Tuesday 25 September 2007 
DAILY LECTIONARY

Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org

******************************************************************
2 Kings 5:19-27

He said to him, 'Go in peace.'
Gehazi's GreedBut when Naaman had gone from him a short distance,
20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, 'My master has
let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not accepting from him what
he offered. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something
out of him.' 21So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone
running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said,
'Is everything all right?' 22He replied, 'Yes, but my master has sent me
to say, "Two members of a company of prophets* have just come to me from
the hill country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two
changes of clothing." ' 23Naaman said, 'Please accept two talents.' He
urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two
changes of clothing, and gave them to two of his servants, who carried
them in front of Gehazi.* 24When he came to the citadel, he took the
bags* from them, and stored them inside; he dismissed the men, and they
left. 
25 He went in and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him,
'Where have you been, Gehazi?' He answered, 'Your servant has not gone
anywhere at all.' 26But he said to him, 'Did I not go with you in spirit
when someone left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept
money and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and
oxen, and male and female slaves? 27Therefore the leprosy* of Naaman
shall cling to you, and to your descendants for ever.' So he left his
presence leprous,* as white as snow. 
******************************************************************
1 Corinthians 5:1-8

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and
of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with
his father's wife. 2And you are arrogant! Should you not rather have
mourned, so that he who has done this would have been removed from among
you? 
3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present I
have already pronounced judgement 4in the name of the Lord Jesus on the
man who has done such a thing.* When you are assembled, and my spirit is
present with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5you are to hand this man over
to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be
saved on the day of the Lord.* 
6 Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast
leavens the whole batch of dough? 7Clean out the old yeast so that you
may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb,
Christ, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore, let us celebrate the festival,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
******************************************************************
Matthew 5:27-37

'You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." 28But
I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already
committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you
to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one
of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.* 30And
if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it
is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body
to go into hell.* 
Concerning Divorce31 'It was also said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let
him give her a certificate of divorce." 32But I say to you that anyone
who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to
commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 
Concerning Oaths33 'Again, you have heard that it was said to those of
ancient times, "You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you
have made to the Lord." 34But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either
by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is his
footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36And
do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
37Let your word be "Yes, Yes" or "No, No"; anything more than this comes
from the evil one.*
******************************************************************
Morning Psalms:  Psalm 78:1-39

Psalm 78:1-39

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 
2I will open my mouth in a parable;
   I will utter dark sayings from of old, 
3things that we have heard and known,
   that our ancestors have told us. 
4We will not hide them from their children;
   we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
   and the wonders that he has done. 


5He established a decree in Jacob,
   and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
   to teach to their children; 
6that the next generation might know them,
   the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children, 
7   so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
   but keep his commandments; 
8and that they should not be like their ancestors,
   a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
   whose spirit was not faithful to God. 


9The Ephraimites, armed with* the bow,
   turned back on the day of battle. 
10They did not keep God's covenant,
   but refused to walk according to his law. 
11They forgot what he had done,
   and the miracles that he had shown them. 
12In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels
   in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. 
13He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
   and made the waters stand like a heap. 
14In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
   and all night long with a fiery light. 
15He split rocks open in the wilderness,
   and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. 
16He made streams come out of the rock,
   and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 


17Yet they sinned still more against him,
   rebelling against the Most High in the desert. 
18They tested God in their heart
   by demanding the food they craved. 
19They spoke against God, saying,
   'Can God spread a table in the wilderness? 
20Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out
   and torrents overflowed,
can he also give bread,
   or provide meat for his people?' 


21Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of rage;
   a fire was kindled against Jacob,
   his anger mounted against Israel, 
22because they had no faith in God,
   and did not trust his saving power. 
23Yet he commanded the skies above,
   and opened the doors of heaven; 
24he rained down on them manna to eat,
   and gave them the grain of heaven. 
25Mortals ate of the bread of angels;
   he sent them food in abundance. 
26He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
   and by his power he led out the south wind; 
27he rained flesh upon them like dust,
   winged birds like the sand of the seas; 
28he let them fall within their camp,
   all around their dwellings. 
29And they ate and were well filled,
   for he gave them what they craved. 
30But before they had satisfied their craving,
   while the food was still in their mouths, 
31the anger of God rose against them
   and he killed the strongest of them,
   and laid low the flower of Israel. 


32In spite of all this they still sinned;
   they did not believe in his wonders. 
33So he made their days vanish like a breath,
   and their years in terror. 
34When he killed them, they sought for him;
   they repented and sought God earnestly. 
35They remembered that God was their rock,
   the Most High God their redeemer. 
36But they flattered him with their mouths;
   they lied to him with their tongues. 
37Their heart was not steadfast towards him;
   they were not true to his covenant. 
38Yet he, being compassionate,
   forgave their iniquity,
   and did not destroy them;
often he restrained his anger,
   and did not stir up all his wrath. 
39He remembered that they were but flesh,
   a wind that passes and does not come again.
******************************************************************
Evening Psalms: Psalm 78:40-72

Psalm 78:40-72

How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
   and grieved him in the desert! 
41They tested God again and again,
   and provoked the Holy One of Israel. 
42They did not keep in mind his power,
   or the day when he redeemed them from the foe; 
43when he displayed his signs in Egypt,
   and his miracles in the fields of Zoan. 
44He turned their rivers to blood,
   so that they could not drink of their streams. 
45He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
   and frogs, which destroyed them. 
46He gave their crops to the caterpillar,
   and the fruit of their labour to the locust. 
47He destroyed their vines with hail,
   and their sycomores with frost. 
48He gave over their cattle to the hail,
   and their flocks to thunderbolts. 
49He let loose on them his fierce anger,
   wrath, indignation, and distress,
   a company of destroying angels. 
50He made a path for his anger;
   he did not spare them from death,
   but gave their lives over to the plague. 
51He struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
   the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham. 
52Then he led out his people like sheep,
   and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 
53He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid;
   but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 
54And he brought them to his holy hill,
   to the mountain that his right hand had won. 
55He drove out nations before them;
   he apportioned them for a possession
   and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. 


56Yet they tested the Most High God,
   and rebelled against him.
   They did not observe his decrees, 
57but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors;
   they twisted like a treacherous bow. 
58For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
   they moved him to jealousy with their idols. 
59When God heard, he was full of wrath,
   and he utterly rejected Israel. 
60He abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
   the tent where he dwelt among mortals, 
61and delivered his power to captivity,
   his glory to the hand of the foe. 
62He gave his people to the sword,
   and vented his wrath on his heritage. 
63Fire devoured their young men,
   and their girls had no marriage song. 
64Their priests fell by the sword,
   and their widows made no lamentation. 
65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
   like a warrior shouting because of wine. 
66He put his adversaries to rout;
   he put them to everlasting disgrace. 


67He rejected the tent of Joseph,
   he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; 
68but he chose the tribe of Judah,
   Mount Zion, which he loves. 
69He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
   like the earth, which he has founded for ever. 
70He chose his servant David,
   and took him from the sheepfolds; 
71from tending the nursing ewes he brought him
   to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
   of Israel, his inheritance. 
72With upright heart he tended them,
   and guided them with skilful hand.
******************************************************************