Monday 3 March 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 3 March 2008 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 49:1-28

Then Jacob called his sons, and said: 'Gather around, that I may tell
you what will happen to you in days to come. 
2Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob;
   listen to Israel your father. 


3'Reuben, you are my firstborn,
   my might and the first fruits of my vigour,
   excelling in rank and excelling in power. 
4Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel
   because you went up on to your father's bed;
   then you defiled it-you* went up on to my couch!


5'Simeon and Levi are brothers;
   weapons of violence are their swords. 
6May I never come into their council;
   may I not be joined to their company-
for in their anger they killed men,
   and at their whim they hamstrung oxen. 
7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
   and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob,
   and scatter them in Israel. 


8'Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
   your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
   your father's sons shall bow down before you. 
9Judah is a lion's whelp;
   from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion,
   like a lioness-who dares rouse him up? 
10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
   nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;*
   and the obedience of the peoples is his. 
11Binding his foal to the vine
   and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
he washes his garments in wine
   and his robe in the blood of grapes; 
12his eyes are darker than wine,
   and his teeth whiter than milk. 


13'Zebulun shall settle at the shore of the sea;
   he shall be a haven for ships,
   and his border shall be at Sidon. 


14'Issachar is a strong donkey,
   lying down between the sheepfolds; 
15he saw that a resting-place was good,
   and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to the burden,
   and became a slave at forced labour. 


16'Dan shall judge his people
   as one of the tribes of Israel. 
17Dan shall be a snake by the roadside,
   a viper along the path,
that bites the horse's heels
   so that its rider falls backwards. 


18'I wait for your salvation, O Lord. 


19'Gad shall be raided by raiders,
   but he shall raid at their heels. 


20'Asher's* food shall be rich,
   and he shall provide royal delicacies. 


21'Naphtali is a doe let loose
   that bears lovely fawns.* 


22'Joseph is a fruitful bough,
   a fruitful bough by a spring;
   his branches run over the wall.* 
23The archers fiercely attacked him;
   they shot at him and pressed him hard. 
24Yet his bow remained taut,
   and his arms* were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
   by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 
25by the God of your father, who will help you,
   by the Almighty* who will bless you
   with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
   blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 
26The blessings of your father
   are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains,
   the bounties* of the everlasting hills;
may they be on the head of Joseph,
   on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers. 


27'Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
   in the morning devouring the prey,
   and at evening dividing the spoil.' 


28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their
father said to them when he blessed them, blessing each one of them with
a suitable blessing.
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1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1

Therefore, my dear friends,* flee from the worship of idols. 15I speak
as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16The cup of
blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The
bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
17Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all
partake of the one bread. 18Consider the people of Israel;* are not
those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? 19What do I imply
then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is
anything? 20No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to
demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.
21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot
partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22Or are we
provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 
Do All to the Glory of God23 'All things are lawful', but not all things
are beneficial. 'All things are lawful', but not all things build up.
24Do not seek your own advantage, but that of others. 25Eat whatever is
sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of
conscience, 26for 'the earth and its fullness are the Lord's.' 27If an
unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat
whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of
conscience. 28But if someone says to you, 'This has been offered in
sacrifice', then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who
informed you, and for the sake of conscience- 29I mean the other's
conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the
judgement of someone else's conscience? 30If I partake with
thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give
thanks? 
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for
the glory of God. 32Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the
church of God, 33just as I try to please everyone in everything I do,
not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be
saved. 111Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 
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Mark 7:24-37

>From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre.* He entered a
house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not
escape notice, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit
immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.
26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him
to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, 'Let the
children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food
and throw it to the dogs.' 28But she answered him, 'Sir,* even the dogs
under the table eat the children's crumbs.' 29Then he said to her, 'For
saying that, you may go-the demon has left your daughter.' 30So she went
home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. 
Jesus Cures a Deaf Man31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and
went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the
Decapolis. 32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his
speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33He took him aside
in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and
he spat and touched his tongue. 34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed
and said to him, 'Ephphatha', that is, 'Be opened.' 35And immediately
his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
36Then Jesus* ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them,
the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37They were astounded beyond
measure, saying, 'He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to
hear and the mute to speak.'
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 89:1-18

Psalm 89:1-18

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord,* for ever;
   with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. 
2I declare that your steadfast love is established for ever;
   your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens. 


3You said, 'I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
   I have sworn to my servant David: 
4"I will establish your descendants for ever,
   and build your throne for all generations." '
          Selah 


5Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
   your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones. 
6For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
   Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, 
7a God feared in the council of the holy ones,
   great and awesome* above all that are around him? 
8O Lord God of hosts,
   who is as mighty as you, O Lord?
   Your faithfulness surrounds you. 
9You rule the raging of the sea;
   when its waves rise, you still them. 
10You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
   you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. 
11The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours;
   the world and all that is in it-you have founded them. 
12The north and the south*-you created them;
   Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name. 
13You have a mighty arm;
   strong is your hand, high your right hand. 
14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
   steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. 
15Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
   who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance; 
16they exult in your name all day long,
   and extol* your righteousness. 
17For you are the glory of their strength;
   by your favour our horn is exalted. 
18For our shield belongs to the Lord,
   our king to the Holy One of Israel. 
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 89:19-52

Psalm 89:19-52

Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said:
   'I have set the crown* on one who is mighty,
   I have exalted one chosen from the people. 
20I have found my servant David;
   with my holy oil I have anointed him; 
21my hand shall always remain with him;
   my arm also shall strengthen him. 
22The enemy shall not outwit him,
   the wicked shall not humble him. 
23I will crush his foes before him
   and strike down those who hate him. 
24My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him;
   and in my name his horn shall be exalted. 
25I will set his hand on the sea
   and his right hand on the rivers. 
26He shall cry to me, "You are my Father,
   my God, and the Rock of my salvation!" 
27I will make him the firstborn,
   the highest of the kings of the earth. 
28For-ever I will keep my steadfast love for him,
   and my covenant with him will stand firm. 
29I will establish his line for ever,
   and his throne as long as the heavens endure. 
30If his children forsake my law
   and do not walk according to my ordinances, 
31if they violate my statutes
   and do not keep my commandments, 
32then I will punish their transgression with the rod
   and their iniquity with scourges; 
33but I will not remove from him my steadfast love,
   or be false to my faithfulness. 
34I will not violate my covenant,
   or alter the word that went forth from my lips. 
35Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness;
   I will not lie to David. 
36His line shall continue for ever,
   and his throne endure before me like the sun. 
37It shall be established for ever like the moon,
   an enduring witness in the skies.'
          Selah 


38But now you have spurned and rejected him;
   you are full of wrath against your anointed. 
39You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
   you have defiled his crown in the dust. 
40You have broken through all his walls;
   you have laid his strongholds in ruins. 
41All who pass by plunder him;
   he has become the scorn of his neighbours. 
42You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
   you have made all his enemies rejoice. 
43Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword,
   and you have not supported him in battle. 
44You have removed the sceptre from his hand,*
   and hurled his throne to the ground. 
45You have cut short the days of his youth;
   you have covered him with shame.
          Selah 


46How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself for ever?
   How long will your wrath burn like fire? 
47Remember how short my time is-*
   for what vanity you have created all mortals! 
48Who can live and never see death?
   Who can escape the power of Sheol?
          Selah 


49Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
   which by your faithfulness you swore to David? 
50Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted;
   how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples,* 
51with which your enemies taunt, O Lord,
   with which they taunted the footsteps of your anointed. 


52Blessed be the Lord for ever.Amen and Amen
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