Friday 1 February 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Friday 1 February 2008 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 17:15-27

God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her
Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I
will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to
nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.' Then Abraham fell on his
face and laughed, and said to himself, 'Can a child be born to a man who
is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a
child?' And Abraham said to God, 'O that Ishmael might live in your
sight!' God said, 'No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you
shall name him Isaac.* I will establish my covenant with him as an
everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have
heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly
numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him
a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah
shall bear to you at this season next year.' And when he had finished
talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house
or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house,
and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God
had said to him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was
circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And his son Ishmael was
thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised; and all the
men of his house, slaves born in the house and those bought with money
from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
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Hebrews 10:11-25

And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and
again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when
Christ* had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, 'he sat
down at the right hand of God', and since then has been waiting 'until
his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.' For by a single
offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the
Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 
'This is the covenant that I will make with them
   after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
   and I will write them on their minds', 
he also adds,
'I will remember* their sins and their lawless deeds no more.' 
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for
sin.
 Therefore, my friends,* since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary
by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us
through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a
great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to
the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is
faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and
good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day
approaching.
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John 6:1-15

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also
called the Sea of Tiberias.*  A large crowd kept following him, because
they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the
mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the
festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd
coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, 'Where are we to buy bread for
these people to eat?' He said this to test him, for he himself knew what
he was going to do. Philip answered him, 'Six months' wages* would not
buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.' One of his
disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 'There is a boy
here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so
many people?' Jesus said, 'Make the people sit down.' Now there was a
great deal of grass in the place; so they* sat down, about five thousand
in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he
distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as
they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, 'Gather up
the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.' So they gathered
them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those
who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign
that he had done, they began to say, 'This is indeed the prophet who is
to come into the world.'

 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force
to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 40, 54

Psalm 40

I waited patiently for the Lord;
   he inclined to me and heard my cry. 
He drew me up from the desolate pit,*
   out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
   making my steps secure. 
He put a new song in my mouth,
   a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
   and put their trust in the Lord. 


Happy are those who make
   the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
   to those who go astray after false gods. 
You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
   your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us;
   none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
   they would be more than can be counted. 


Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
   but you have given me an open ear.*
Burnt-offering and sin-offering
   you have not required. 
Then I said, 'Here I am;
   in the scroll of the book it is written of me.* 
I delight to do your will, O my God;
   your law is within my heart.' 


I have told the glad news of deliverance
   in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
   as you know, O Lord. 
I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
   I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
   from the great congregation. 


Do not, O Lord, withhold
   your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
   keep me safe for ever. 
For evils have encompassed me
   without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
   until I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head,
   and my heart fails me. 


Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
   O Lord, make haste to help me. 
Let all those be put to shame and confusion
   who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonour
   who desire my hurt. 
Let those be appalled because of their shame
   who say to me, 'Aha, Aha!' 


But may all who seek you
   rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
   say continually, 'Great is the Lord!' 
As for me, I am poor and needy,
   but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
   do not delay, O my God.


Psalm 54

Save me, O God, by your name,
   and vindicate me by your might. 
Hear my prayer, O God;
   give ear to the words of my mouth. 


For the insolent have risen against me,
   the ruthless seek my life;
   they do not set God before them.
          Selah 


But surely, God is my helper;
   the Lord is the upholder of* my life. 
He will repay my enemies for their evil.
   In your faithfulness, put an end to them. 


With a freewill-offering I will sacrifice to you;
   I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. 
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
   and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 51

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
   blot out my transgressions. 
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin. 


For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is ever before me. 
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
   and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
   and blameless when you pass judgement. 
Indeed, I was born guilty,
   a sinner when my mother conceived me. 


You desire truth in the inward being;*
   therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
   wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 
Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 
Hide your face from my sins,
   and blot out all my iniquities. 


Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and put a new and right* spirit within me. 
Do not cast me away from your presence,
   and do not take your holy spirit from me. 
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and sustain in me a willing* spirit. 


Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   and sinners will return to you. 
Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
   O God of my salvation,
   and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. 


O Lord, open my lips,
   and my mouth will declare your praise. 
For you have no delight in sacrifice;
   if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased. 
The sacrifice acceptable to God* is a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 


Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
   rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 
then you will delight in right sacrifices,
   in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings;
   then bulls will be offered on your altar.
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