Sunday 20 January 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Sunday 20 January 2008 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 7:1-10, 17-23

Then the Lord said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and all your
household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in
this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the
male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the
male and its mate; and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male
and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth. For
in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty
nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the
face of the ground.' And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the
earth. And Noah with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives went into
the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, and of
animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps
on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with
Noah, as God had commanded Noah. And after seven days the waters of the
flood came on the earth.

 The flood continued for forty days on the earth; and the waters
increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The
waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated
on the face of the waters. The waters swelled so mightily on the earth
that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered; the
waters swelled above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.
And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, domestic animals,
wild animals, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all
human beings; everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of
life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the
ground, human beings and animals and creeping things and birds of the
air; they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those
that were with him in the ark.
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Ephesians 4:1-16

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of
the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making
every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one
hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's
gift. Therefore it is said,
'When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;
   he gave gifts to his people.' 
(When it says, 'He ascended', what does it mean but that he had also
descended* into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the
same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill
all things.) The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the
saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of
Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about
by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in
deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in
every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole
body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is
equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth
in building itself up in love.
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Mark 3:7-19

Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude
from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to
him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan,
and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a
boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush
him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon
him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down
before him and shouted, 'You are the Son of God!' But he sternly ordered
them not to make him known.
 He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and
they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles,*
to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have
authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve:* Simon (to
whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother
of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);
and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and
James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas
Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home;
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 148, 149, 150

Psalm 148

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
   praise him in the heights! 
Praise him, all his angels;
   praise him, all his host! 


Praise him, sun and moon;
   praise him, all you shining stars! 
Praise him, you highest heavens,
   and you waters above the heavens! 


Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for he commanded and they were created. 
He established them for ever and ever;
   he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.* 


Praise the Lord from the earth,
   you sea monsters and all deeps, 
fire and hail, snow and frost,
   stormy wind fulfilling his command! 


Mountains and all hills,
   fruit trees and all cedars! 
Wild animals and all cattle,
   creeping things and flying birds! 


Kings of the earth and all peoples,
   princes and all rulers of the earth! 
Young men and women alike,
   old and young together! 


Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for his name alone is exalted;
   his glory is above earth and heaven. 
He has raised up a horn for his people,
   praise for all his faithful,
   for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!


Psalm 149

Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
   his praise in the assembly of the faithful. 
Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
   let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. 
Let them praise his name with dancing,
   making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. 
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
   he adorns the humble with victory. 
Let the faithful exult in glory;
   let them sing for joy on their couches. 
Let the high praises of God be in their throats
   and two-edged swords in their hands, 
to execute vengeance on the nations
   and punishment on the peoples, 
to bind their kings with fetters
   and their nobles with chains of iron, 
to execute on them the judgement decreed.
   This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!


Psalm 150

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
   praise him in his mighty firmament!* 
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
   praise him according to his surpassing greatness! 


Praise him with trumpet sound;
   praise him with lute and harp! 
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
   praise him with strings and pipe! 
Praise him with clanging cymbals;
   praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
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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, 
Judah became God's* sanctuary,
   Israel his dominion. 


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


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


Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
   at the presence of the God of Jacob, 
who 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. 
Why should the nations say,
   'Where is their God?' 


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


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


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


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


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