Friday 4 April 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Friday 4 April 2008  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Exodus 16:23-36

he said to them, 'This is what the Lord has commanded: "Tomorrow is a
day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord; bake what you want to
bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside
to be kept until morning." ' So they put it aside until morning, as
Moses commanded them; and it did not become foul, and there were no
worms in it. Moses said, 'Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the
Lord; today you will not find it in the field. For six days you shall
gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a sabbath, there will be
none.'

 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they
found none. The Lord said to Moses, 'How long will you refuse to keep my
commandments and instructions? See! The Lord has given you the sabbath,
therefore on the sixth day he gives you food for two days; each of you
stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day.' So the
people rested on the seventh day.

 The house of Israel called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white,
and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Moses said, 'This
is what the Lord has commanded: "Let an omer of it be kept throughout
your generations, in order that they may see the food with which I fed
you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt." '
And Moses said to Aaron, 'Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it,
and place it before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.'
As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the covenant,*
for safe-keeping. The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they
came to a habitable land; they ate manna, until they came to the border
of the land of Canaan. An omer is a tenth of an ephah.
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1 Peter 3:13-4:6

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if
you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what
they fear,* and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify
Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who
demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with
gentleness and reverence.* Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you
are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be
put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering
should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also
suffered* for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in
order to bring you* to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made
alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to
the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited
patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which
a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. And baptism,
which this prefigured, now saves you-not as a removal of dirt from the
body, but as an appeal to God for* a good conscience, through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the
right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to
him.
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,* arm yourselves also with
the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished
with sin), so as to live for the rest of your earthly life* no longer by
human desires but by the will of God. You have already spent enough time
in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness,
passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are
surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of
dissipation, and so they blaspheme.* But they will have to give an
account to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For
this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that,
though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they
might live in the spirit as God does.
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John 16:1-15

'I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. They will
put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who
kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God.
And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. But
I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may
remember that I told you about them.

'I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was
with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks
me, "Where are you going?" But because I have said these things to you,
sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is
to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate*
will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he
comes, he will prove the world wrong about* sin and righteousness and
judgement: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about
righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no
longer; about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been
condemned.

 'I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth;
for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and
he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me,
because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the
Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is
mine and declare it to you.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 16, 17

Psalm 16

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 
I say to the Lord, 'You are my Lord;
   I have no good apart from you.'*


As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
   in whom is all my delight. 


Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;*
   their drink-offerings of blood I will not pour out
   or take their names upon my lips. 


The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
   you hold my lot. 
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
   I have a goodly heritage. 


I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
   in the night also my heart instructs me. 
I keep the Lord always before me;
   because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 


Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
   my body also rests secure. 
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
   or let your faithful one see the Pit. 


You show me the path of life.
   In your presence there is fullness of joy;
   in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.


Psalm 17

Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry;
   give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. 
>From you let my vindication come;
   let your eyes see the right. 


If you try my heart, if you visit me by night,
   if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me;
   my mouth does not transgress. 
As for what others do, by the word of your lips
   I have avoided the ways of the violent. 
My steps have held fast to your paths;
   my feet have not slipped. 


I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
   incline your ear to me, hear my words. 
Wondrously show your steadfast love,
   O saviour of those who seek refuge
   from their adversaries at your right hand. 


Guard me as the apple of the eye;
   hide me in the shadow of your wings, 
from the wicked who despoil me,
   my deadly enemies who surround me. 
They close their hearts to pity;
   with their mouths they speak arrogantly. 
They track me down;* now they surround me;
   they set their eyes to cast me to the ground. 
They are like a lion eager to tear,
   like a young lion lurking in ambush. 


Rise up, O Lord, confront them, overthrow them!
   By your sword deliver my life from the wicked, 
from mortals-by your hand, O Lord-
   from mortals whose portion in life is in this world.
May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them;
   may their children have more than enough;
   may they leave something over to their little ones. 


As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
   when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 134, 135

Psalm 134

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
   who stand by night in the house of the Lord! 
Lift up your hands to the holy place,
   and bless the Lord. 


May the Lord, maker of heaven and earth,
   bless you from Zion.


Psalm 135

Praise the Lord!
   Praise the name of the Lord;
   give praise, O servants of the Lord, 
you that stand in the house of the Lord,
   in the courts of the house of our God. 
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
   sing to his name, for he is gracious. 
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
   Israel as his own possession. 


For I know that the Lord is great;
   our Lord is above all gods. 
Whatever the Lord pleases he does,
   in heaven and on earth,
   in the seas and all deeps. 
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth;
   he makes lightnings for the rain
   and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 


He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
   both human beings and animals; 
he sent signs and wonders
   into your midst, O Egypt,
   against Pharaoh and all his servants. 
He struck down many nations
   and killed mighty kings- 
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
   and Og, king of Bashan,
   and all the kingdoms of Canaan- 
and gave their land as a heritage,
   a heritage to his people Israel. 


Your name, O Lord, endures for ever,
   your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages. 
For the Lord will vindicate his people,
   and have compassion on his servants. 


The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
   the work of human hands. 
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
   they have eyes, but they do not see; 
they have ears, but they do not hear,
   and there is no breath in their mouths. 
Those who make them
   and all who trust them
   shall become like them. 


O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
   O house of Aaron, bless the Lord! 
O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
   You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord! 
Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
   he who resides in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
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