Saturday 21 June 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Saturday 21 June 2008  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Numbers 13:31-14:25

Then the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up
against this people, for they are stronger than we are.’ So they
brought to the Israelites an unfavourable report of the land that they
had spied out, saying, ‘The land that we have gone through as spies is
a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in
it are of great size. There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from
the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we
seemed to them.’
Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that
night. And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the
whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land
of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord
bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our
little ones will become booty; would it not be better for us to go back
to Egypt?’ So they said to one another, ‘Let us choose a captain,
and go back to Egypt.’

 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the
congregation of the Israelites. And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of
Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their
clothes and said to all the congregation of the Israelites, ‘The land
that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord
is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a
land that flows with milk and honey. Only, do not rebel against the
Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than
bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is
with us; do not fear them.’ But the whole congregation threatened to
stone them.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the
Israelites. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will this people
despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of
all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with
pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater
and mightier than they.’
 But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for
in your might you brought up this people from among them, and they will
tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are
in the midst of this people; for you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and
your cloud stands over them and you go in front of them, in a pillar of
cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you kill this
people all at one time, then the nations who have heard about you will
say, “It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into
the land he swore to give them that he has slaughtered them in the
wilderness.” And now, therefore, let the power of the Lord be great in
the way that you promised when you spoke, saying, 
“The Lord is slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love,
forgiving iniquity and transgression,
but by no means clearing the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
to the third and the fourth generation.” 
Forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your
steadfast love, just as you have pardoned this people, from Egypt even
until now.’

 Then the Lord said, ‘I do forgive, just as you have asked;
nevertheless—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the
glory of the Lord— none of the people who have seen my glory and the
signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tested me
these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I
swore to give to their ancestors; none of those who despised me shall
see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has
followed me wholeheartedly, I will bring into the land into which he
went, and his descendants shall possess it. Now, since the Amalekites
and the Canaanites live in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for
the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.’*
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Romans 3:9-20

What then? Are we any better off?* No, not at all; for we have already
charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as
it is written:
‘There is no one who is righteous, not even one; 
   there is no one who has understanding,
     there is no one who seeks God. 
All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;
   there is no one who shows kindness,
     there is not even one.’ 
‘Their throats are opened graves;
   they use their tongues to deceive.’
‘The venom of vipers is under their lips.’ 
   ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’ 
‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; 
   ruin and misery are in their paths, 
and the way of peace they have not known.’ 
   ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’

 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are
under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world
may be held accountable to God. For ‘no human being will be justified
in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law
comes the knowledge of sin.
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Matthew 19:1-12

When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to
the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he
cured them there.

 Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful
for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you
not read that the one who made them at the beginning “made them male
and female”, and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father
and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh”? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God
has joined together, let no one separate.’ They said to him, ‘Why
then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to
divorce her?’ He said to them, ‘It was because you were so
hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the
beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife,
except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.’*

 His disciples said to him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his
wife, it is better not to marry.’ But he said to them, ‘Not everyone
can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there
are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have
been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made
themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone
accept this who can.’
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 87, 90

Psalm 87

On the holy mount stands the city he founded; 
   the Lord loves the gates of Zion
   more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 
Glorious things are spoken of you,
   O city of God.
          Selah 


Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
   Philistia too, and Tyre, with Ethiopia*—
   ‘This one was born there,’ they say. 


And of Zion it shall be said,
   ‘This one and that one were born in it’;
   for the Most High himself will establish it. 
The Lord records, as he registers the peoples,
   ‘This one was born there.’
          Selah 


Singers and dancers alike say,
   ‘All my springs are in you.’


Psalm 90

Lord, you have been our dwelling-place*
   in all generations. 
Before the mountains were brought forth,
   or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
   from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 


You turn us* back to dust,
   and say, ‘Turn back, you mortals.’ 
For a thousand years in your sight
   are like yesterday when it is past,
   or like a watch in the night. 


You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
   like grass that is renewed in the morning; 
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
   in the evening it fades and withers. 


For we are consumed by your anger;
   by your wrath we are overwhelmed. 
You have set our iniquities before you,
   our secret sins in the light of your countenance. 


For all our days pass away under your wrath;
   our years come to an end* like a sigh. 
The days of our life are seventy years,
   or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
even then their span* is only toil and trouble;
   they are soon gone, and we fly away. 


Who considers the power of your anger?
   Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due to you. 
So teach us to count our days
   that we may gain a wise heart. 


Turn, O Lord! How long?
   Have compassion on your servants! 
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
   so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
   and for as many years as we have seen evil. 
Let your work be manifest to your servants,
   and your glorious power to their children. 
Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us,
   and prosper for us the work of our hands—
   O prosper the work of our hands!
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 136

Psalm 136

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever. 
O give thanks to the God of gods,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever. 
O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 


who alone does great wonders,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
who by understanding made the heavens,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
who spread out the earth on the waters,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
who made the great lights,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
the sun to rule over the day,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
the moon and stars to rule over the night,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 


who struck Egypt through their firstborn,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
and brought Israel out from among them,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
who divided the Red Sea* in two,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,*
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
who led his people through the wilderness,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
who struck down great kings,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
and killed famous kings,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
and Og, king of Bashan,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
and gave their land as a heritage,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
a heritage to his servant Israel,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever. 


It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
and rescued us from our foes,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever; 
who gives food to all flesh,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever. 


O give thanks to the God of heaven,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever.
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