Thursday 17 April 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Thursday 17 April 2008
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Exodus 34:1-17

The Lord said to Moses, 'Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones,
and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former
tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready in the morning, and come up in the
morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me, on the top of
the mountain. 3No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be
seen throughout all the mountain; and do not let flocks or herds graze
in front of that mountain.' 4So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the
former ones; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount
Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two
tablets of stone. 5The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him
there, and proclaimed the name, 'The Lord.'* 6The Lord passed before
him, and proclaimed,
'The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 
7keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,*
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
but visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
and the children's children,
to the third and the fourth generation.' 
8And Moses quickly bowed his head towards the earth, and worshipped. 9He
said, 'If now I have found favour in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the
Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our
iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.' 
The Covenant Renewed10 He said: I hereby make a covenant. Before all
your people I will perform marvels, such as have not been performed in
all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you live
shall see the work of the Lord; for it is an awesome thing that I will
do with you. 
11 Observe what I command you today. See, I will drive out before you
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites,
and the Jebusites. 12Take care not to make a covenant with the
inhabitants of the land to which you are going, or it will become a
snare among you. 13You shall tear down their altars, break their
pillars, and cut down their sacred poles* 14(for you shall worship no
other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God).
15You shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for
when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their
gods, someone among them will invite you, and you will eat of the
sacrifice. 16And you will take wives from among their daughters for your
sons, and their daughters who prostitute themselves to their gods will
make your sons also prostitute themselves to their gods. 
17 You shall not make cast idols.
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1 Thessalonians 2:13-20

We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received
the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human
word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you
believers. 14For you, brothers and sisters,* became imitators of the
churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the
same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews, 15who
killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets,* and drove us out; they
displease God and oppose everyone 16by hindering us from speaking to the
Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been
filling up the measure of their sins; but God's wrath has overtaken them
at last.* 
Paul's Desire to Visit the Thessalonians Again17 As for us, brothers and
sisters,* when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being
separated from you-in person, not in heart-we longed with great
eagerness to see you face to face. 18For we wanted to come to
you-certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again-but Satan blocked our
way. 19For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord
Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20Yes, you are our glory and joy!
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Matthew 7:21-26

'You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall
not murder"; and "whoever murders shall be liable to judgement." 22But I
say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister,* you will be
liable to judgement; and if you insult* a brother or sister,* you will
be liable to the council; and if you say, "You fool", you will be liable
to the hell* of fire. 23So when you are offering your gift at the altar,
if you remember that your brother or sister* has something against you,
24leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to
your brother or sister,* and then come and offer your gift. 25Come to
terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court* with
him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to
the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26Truly I tell you, you
will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 50

Psalm 50

The mighty one, God the Lord,
   speaks and summons the earth
   from the rising of the sun to its setting. 
2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
   God shines forth. 


3Our God comes and does not keep silence,
   before him is a devouring fire,
   and a mighty tempest all around him. 
4He calls to the heavens above
   and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 
5'Gather to me my faithful ones,
   who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!' 
6The heavens declare his righteousness,
   for God himself is judge.
          Selah 


7'Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
   O Israel, I will testify against you.
   I am God, your God. 
8Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
   your burnt-offerings are continually before me. 
9I will not accept a bull from your house,
   or goats from your folds. 
10For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
   the cattle on a thousand hills. 
11I know all the birds of the air,*
   and all that moves in the field is mine. 


12'If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
   for the world and all that is in it is mine. 
13Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
   or drink the blood of goats? 
14Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,*
   and pay your vows to the Most High. 
15Call on me in the day of trouble;
   I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.' 


16But to the wicked God says:
   'What right have you to recite my statutes,
   or take my covenant on your lips? 
17For you hate discipline,
   and you cast my words behind you. 
18You make friends with a thief when you see one,
   and you keep company with adulterers. 


19'You give your mouth free rein for evil,
   and your tongue frames deceit. 
20You sit and speak against your kin;
   you slander your own mother's child. 
21These things you have done and I have been silent;
   you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you. 


22'Mark this, then, you who forget God,
   or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. 
23Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me;
   to those who go the right way*
   I will show the salvation of God.'
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 114, 115

Psalm 114

When Israel went out from Egypt,
   the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 
2Judah became God's* sanctuary,
   Israel his dominion. 


3The sea looked and fled;
   Jordan turned back. 
4The mountains skipped like rams,
   the hills like lambs. 


5Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
   O Jordan, that you turn back? 
6O mountains, that you skip like rams?
   O hills, like lambs? 


7Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
   at the presence of the God of Jacob, 
8who turns the rock into a pool of water,
   the flint into a spring of water.


Psalm 115

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
   for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. 
2Why should the nations say,
   'Where is their God?' 


3Our God is in the heavens;
   he does whatever he pleases. 
4Their idols are silver and gold,
   the work of human hands. 
5They have mouths, but do not speak;
   eyes, but do not see. 
6They have ears, but do not hear;
   noses, but do not smell. 
7They have hands, but do not feel;
   feet, but do not walk;
   they make no sound in their throats. 
8Those who make them are like them;
   so are all who trust in them. 


9O Israel, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield. 
10O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield. 
11You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield. 


12The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
   he will bless the house of Israel;
   he will bless the house of Aaron; 
13he will bless those who fear the Lord,
   both small and great. 


14May the Lord give you increase,
   both you and your children. 
15May you be blessed by the Lord,
   who made heaven and earth. 


16The heavens are the Lord's heavens,
   but the earth he has given to human beings. 
17The dead do not praise the Lord,
   nor do any that go down into silence. 
18But we will bless the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!
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