Tuesday 17 June 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

[info at dailylectionary.org]

Tuesday 17 June 2008  
DAILY LECTIONARY

Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org

******************************************************************
Numbers 11:1-23

Now when the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their
misfortunes, the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled. Then the fire
of the Lord burned against them, and consumed some outlying parts of the
camp. But the people cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord,
and the fire abated. So that place was called Taberah,* because the fire
of the Lord burned against them.

 The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also
wept again, and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the
fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the
leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and
there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’

 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its colour was like the
colour of gum resin. The people went around and gathered it, ground it
in mills or beat it in mortars, then boiled it in pots and made cakes of
it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When
the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna would fall with it.

 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the
entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was
displeased. So Moses said to the Lord, ‘Why have you treated your
servant so badly? Why have I not found favour in your sight, that you
lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people?
Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, “Carry them in
your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child”, to the land that you
promised on oath to their ancestors? Where am I to get meat to give to
all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, “Give us meat to
eat!” I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too
heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to
death at once—if I have found favour in your sight—and do not let me
see my misery.’
 So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather for me seventy of the elders of
Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over
them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place
there with you. I will come down and talk with you there; and I will
take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they
shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not
bear it all by yourself. And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves
for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wailed in the hearing
of the Lord, saying, “If only we had meat to eat! Surely it was better
for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall
eat. You shall eat not only one day, or two days, or five days, or ten
days, or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your
nostrils and becomes loathsome to you—because you have rejected the
Lord who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we
ever leave Egypt?” ’ But Moses said, ‘The people I am with number
six hundred thousand on foot; and you say, “I will give them meat,
that they may eat for a whole month”! Are there enough flocks and
herds to slaughter for them? Are there enough fish in the sea to catch
for them?’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Is the Lord’s power limited?*
Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.’
******************************************************************
Romans 1:16-25

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For
in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as
it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’*
 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For
what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it
to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and
divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen
through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though
they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but
they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were
darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the
glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or
birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to
the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged
the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature
rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen.
******************************************************************
Matthew 17:22-27

As they were gathering* in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of
Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him,
and on the third day he will be raised.’ And they were greatly
distressed.
 When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax* came to
Peter and said, ‘Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?’* He
said, ‘Yes, he does.’ And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it
first, asking, ‘What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the
earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?’ When
Peter* said, ‘From others’, Jesus said to him, ‘Then the children
are free. However, so that we do not give offence to them, go to the
lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you
open its mouth, you will find a coin;* take that and give it to them for
you and me.’
 ******************************************************************
Morning Psalms:  Psalm 78:1-39

Psalm 78:1-39

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 
I will open my mouth in a parable;
   I will utter dark sayings from of old, 
things that we have heard and known,
   that our ancestors have told us. 
We will not hide them from their children;
   we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
   and the wonders that he has done. 


He established a decree in Jacob,
   and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
   to teach to their children; 
that the next generation might know them,
   the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children, 
   so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
   but keep his commandments; 
and that they should not be like their ancestors,
   a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
   whose spirit was not faithful to God. 


The Ephraimites, armed with* the bow,
   turned back on the day of battle. 
They did not keep God’s covenant,
   but refused to walk according to his law. 
They forgot what he had done,
   and the miracles that he had shown them. 
In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels
   in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. 
He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
   and made the waters stand like a heap. 
In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
   and all night long with a fiery light. 
He split rocks open in the wilderness,
   and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. 
He made streams come out of the rock,
   and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 


Yet they sinned still more against him,
   rebelling against the Most High in the desert. 
They tested God in their heart
   by demanding the food they craved. 
They spoke against God, saying,
   ‘Can God spread a table in the wilderness? 
Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out
   and torrents overflowed,
can he also give bread,
   or provide meat for his people?’ 


Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of rage;
   a fire was kindled against Jacob,
   his anger mounted against Israel, 
because they had no faith in God,
   and did not trust his saving power. 
Yet he commanded the skies above,
   and opened the doors of heaven; 
he rained down on them manna to eat,
   and gave them the grain of heaven. 
Mortals ate of the bread of angels;
   he sent them food in abundance. 
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
   and by his power he led out the south wind; 
he rained flesh upon them like dust,
   winged birds like the sand of the seas; 
he let them fall within their camp,
   all around their dwellings. 
And they ate and were well filled,
   for he gave them what they craved. 
But before they had satisfied their craving,
   while the food was still in their mouths, 
the anger of God rose against them
   and he killed the strongest of them,
   and laid low the flower of Israel. 


In spite of all this they still sinned;
   they did not believe in his wonders. 
So he made their days vanish like a breath,
   and their years in terror. 
When he killed them, they sought for him;
   they repented and sought God earnestly. 
They remembered that God was their rock,
   the Most High God their redeemer. 
But they flattered him with their mouths;
   they lied to him with their tongues. 
Their heart was not steadfast towards him;
   they were not true to his covenant. 
Yet he, being compassionate,
   forgave their iniquity,
   and did not destroy them;
often he restrained his anger,
   and did not stir up all his wrath. 
He remembered that they were but flesh,
   a wind that passes and does not come again.
******************************************************************
Evening Psalms:  Psalm 78:40-72

Psalm 78:40-72

How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
   and grieved him in the desert! 
They tested God again and again,
   and provoked the Holy One of Israel. 
They did not keep in mind his power,
   or the day when he redeemed them from the foe; 
when he displayed his signs in Egypt,
   and his miracles in the fields of Zoan. 
He turned their rivers to blood,
   so that they could not drink of their streams. 
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
   and frogs, which destroyed them. 
He gave their crops to the caterpillar,
   and the fruit of their labour to the locust. 
He destroyed their vines with hail,
   and their sycomores with frost. 
He gave over their cattle to the hail,
   and their flocks to thunderbolts. 
He let loose on them his fierce anger,
   wrath, indignation, and distress,
   a company of destroying angels. 
He made a path for his anger;
   he did not spare them from death,
   but gave their lives over to the plague. 
He struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
   the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham. 
Then he led out his people like sheep,
   and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 
He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid;
   but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 
And he brought them to his holy hill,
   to the mountain that his right hand had won. 
He drove out nations before them;
   he apportioned them for a possession
   and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. 


Yet they tested the Most High God,
   and rebelled against him.
   They did not observe his decrees, 
but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors;
   they twisted like a treacherous bow. 
For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
   they moved him to jealousy with their idols. 
When God heard, he was full of wrath,
   and he utterly rejected Israel. 
He abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
   the tent where he dwelt among mortals, 
and delivered his power to captivity,
   his glory to the hand of the foe. 
He gave his people to the sword,
   and vented his wrath on his heritage. 
Fire devoured their young men,
   and their girls had no marriage song. 
Their priests fell by the sword,
   and their widows made no lamentation. 
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
   like a warrior shouting because of wine. 
He put his adversaries to rout;
   he put them to everlasting disgrace. 


He rejected the tent of Joseph,
   he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; 
but he chose the tribe of Judah,
   Mount Zion, which he loves. 
He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
   like the earth, which he has founded for ever. 
He chose his servant David,
   and took him from the sheepfolds; 
from tending the nursing ewes he brought him
   to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
   of Israel, his inheritance. 
With upright heart he tended them,
   and guided them with skilful hand.
******************************************************************