Monday 16 June 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 16 June 2008  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Numbers 9:15-23, 10:29-36

On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle,
the tent of the covenant;* and from evening until morning it was over
the tabernacle, having the appearance of fire. It was always so: the
cloud covered it by day* and the appearance of fire by night. Whenever
the cloud lifted from over the tent, then the Israelites would set out;
and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the Israelites
would camp. At the command of the Lord the Israelites would set out, and
at the command of the Lord they would camp. As long as the cloud rested
over the tabernacle, they would remain in camp. Even when the cloud
continued over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep
the charge of the Lord, and would not set out. Sometimes the cloud would
remain for a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command
of the Lord they would remain in camp; then according to the command of
the Lord they would set out. Sometimes the cloud would remain from
evening until morning; and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they
would set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud
lifted they would set out. Whether it was two days, or a month, or a
longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon
it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when
it lifted they would set out. At the command of the Lord they would
camp, and at the command of the Lord they would set out. They kept the
charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.

 Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law,
‘We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, “I will
give it to you”; come with us, and we will treat you well; for the
Lord has promised good to Israel.’ But he said to him, ‘I will not
go, but I will go back to my own land and to my kindred.’ He said,
‘Do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness,
and you will serve as eyes for us. Moreover, if you go with us, whatever
good the Lord does for us, the same we will do for you.’

 So they set out from the mount of the Lord on three days’ journey
with the ark of the covenant of the Lord going before them for three
days’ journey, to seek out a resting-place for them, the cloud of the
Lord being over them by day when they set out from the camp.

 Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say,
‘Arise, O Lord, let your enemies be scattered,
   and your foes flee before you.’ 
And whenever it came to rest, he would say,
‘Return, O Lord of the ten thousand thousands of Israel.’*
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Romans 1:1-15

Paul, a servant* of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for
the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in
the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended
from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with
power according to the spirit* of holiness by resurrection from the
dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and
apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles
for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong
to Jesus Christ,

 To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your
faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my
spirit by announcing the gospel* of his Son, is my witness that without
ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will
I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see
you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen
you— or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s
faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers and sisters,*
that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been
prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have
among the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to
barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish — hence my eagerness
to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
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Matthew 17:14-21

When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and
said, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he
suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.’
Jesus answered, ‘You faithless and perverse generation, how much
longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring
him here to me.’ And Jesus rebuked the demon,* and it* came out of
him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus
privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them,
‘Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith
the size of a* mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from
here to there”, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for
you.’*
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 80

Psalm 80

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
   you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 
   before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
   and come to save us! 


Restore us, O God;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. 


O Lord God of hosts,
   how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? 
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
   and given them tears to drink in full measure. 
You make us the scorn* of our neighbours;
   our enemies laugh among themselves. 


Restore us, O God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. 


You brought a vine out of Egypt;
   you drove out the nations and planted it. 
You cleared the ground for it;
   it took deep root and filled the land. 
The mountains were covered with its shade,
   the mighty cedars with its branches; 
it sent out its branches to the sea,
   and its shoots to the River. 
Why then have you broken down its walls,
   so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 
The boar from the forest ravages it,
   and all that move in the field feed on it. 


Turn again, O God of hosts;
   look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine, 
   the stock that your right hand planted.* 
They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;*
   may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 
But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
   the one whom you made strong for yourself. 
Then we will never turn back from you;
   give us life, and we will call on your name. 


Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 77

Psalm 77

I cry aloud to God,
   aloud to God, that he may hear me. 
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
   in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
   my soul refuses to be comforted. 
I think of God, and I moan;
   I meditate, and my spirit faints.
          Selah 


You keep my eyelids from closing;
   I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 
I consider the days of old,
   and remember the years of long ago. 
I commune* with my heart in the night;
   I meditate and search my spirit:* 
‘Will the Lord spurn for ever,
   and never again be favourable? 
Has his steadfast love ceased for ever?
   Are his promises at an end for all time? 
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
   Has he in anger shut up his compassion?’
          Selah 
And I say, ‘It is my grief
   that the right hand of the Most High has changed.’ 


I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
   I will remember your wonders of old. 
I will meditate on all your work,
   and muse on your mighty deeds. 
Your way, O God, is holy.
   What god is so great as our God? 
You are the God who works wonders;
   you have displayed your might among the peoples. 
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
   the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
          Selah 


When the waters saw you, O God,
   when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
   the very deep trembled. 
The clouds poured out water;
   the skies thundered;
   your arrows flashed on every side. 
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
   your lightnings lit up the world;
   the earth trembled and shook. 
Your way was through the sea,
   your path, through the mighty waters;
   yet your footprints were unseen. 
You led your people like a flock
   by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
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