Wednesday 9 January 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Wednesday 9 January 2008 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Isaiah 45:14-19

Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia,*
   and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours,
   they shall follow you;
   they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
   'God is with you alone, and there is no other;
   there is no god besides him.' 
15Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
   O God of Israel, the Saviour. 
16All of them are put to shame and confounded,
   the makers of idols go in confusion together. 
17But Israel is saved by the Lord
   with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
   to all eternity. 


18For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
   (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
   (he established it;
he did not create it a chaos,
   he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other. 
19I did not speak in secret,
   in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
   'Seek me in chaos.'
I the Lord speak the truth,
   I declare what is right. 
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Colossians 1:24-2:7

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am
completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his
body, that is, the church. 25I became its servant according to God's
commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully
known, 26the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and
generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27To them God chose
to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory
of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28It is he
whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom,
so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29For this I toil and
struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me. 
2For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those
in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face. 2I want
their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have
all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's
mystery, that is, Christ himself,* 3in whom are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. 4I am saying this so that no one may deceive
you with plausible arguments. 5For though I am absent in body, yet I am
with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of
your faith in Christ. 
Fullness of Life in Christ6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, continue to live your lives* in him, 7rooted and built up in
him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in
thanksgiving. 
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John 8:12-19

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.'
13Then the Pharisees said to him, 'You are testifying on your own
behalf; your testimony is not valid.' 14Jesus answered, 'Even if I
testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I
have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come
from or where I am going. 15You judge by human standards;* I judge no
one. 16Yet even if I do judge, my judgement is valid; for it is not I
alone who judge, but I and the Father* who sent me. 17In your law it is
written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. 18I testify on my
own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.' 19Then
they said to him, 'Where is your Father?' Jesus answered, 'You know
neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father
also.'
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 121, 122, 123

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills-
   from where will my help come? 
2My help comes from the Lord,
   who made heaven and earth. 


3He will not let your foot be moved;
   he who keeps you will not slumber. 
4He who keeps Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep. 


5The Lord is your keeper;
   the Lord is your shade at your right hand. 
6The sun shall not strike you by day,
   nor the moon by night. 


7The Lord will keep you from all evil;
   he will keep your life. 
8The Lord will keep
   your going out and your coming in
   from this time on and for evermore.


Psalm 122

I was glad when they said to me,
   'Let us go to the house of the Lord!' 
2Our feet are standing
   within your gates, O Jerusalem. 


3Jerusalem-built as a city
   that is bound firmly together. 
4To it the tribes go up,
   the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
   to give thanks to the name of the Lord. 
5For there the thrones for judgement were set up,
   the thrones of the house of David. 


6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
   'May they prosper who love you. 
7Peace be within your walls,
   and security within your towers.' 
8For the sake of my relatives and friends
   I will say, 'Peace be within you.' 
9For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
   I will seek your good.


Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes,
   O you who are enthroned in the heavens! 
2As the eyes of servants
   look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
   to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
   until he has mercy upon us. 


3Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
   for we have had more than enough of contempt. 
4Our soul has had more than its fill
   of the scorn of those who are at ease,
   of the contempt of the proud.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 131, 132

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
   my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
   too great and too marvellous for me. 
2But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
   like a weaned child with its mother;
   my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.* 


3O Israel, hope in the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.


Psalm 132

O Lord, remember in David's favour
   all the hardships he endured; 
2how he swore to the Lord
   and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, 
3'I will not enter my house
   or get into my bed; 
4I will not give sleep to my eyes
   or slumber to my eyelids, 
5until I find a place for the Lord,
   a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob.' 


6We heard of it in Ephrathah;
   we found it in the fields of Jaar. 
7'Let us go to his dwelling-place;
   let us worship at his footstool.' 


8Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting-place,
   you and the ark of your might. 
9Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
   and let your faithful shout for joy. 
10For your servant David's sake
   do not turn away the face of your anointed one. 


11The Lord swore to David a sure oath
   from which he will not turn back:
'One of the sons of your body
   I will set on your throne. 
12If your sons keep my covenant
   and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, for evermore,
   shall sit on your throne.' 


13For the Lord has chosen Zion;
   he has desired it for his habitation: 
14'This is my resting-place for ever;
   here I will reside, for I have desired it. 
15I will abundantly bless its provisions;
   I will satisfy its poor with bread. 
16Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
   and its faithful will shout for joy. 
17There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
   I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one. 
18His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
   but on him, his crown will gleam.'
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