Tuesday 4 March 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Tuesday 4 March 2008 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 49:29-50:14

Then he charged them, saying to them, 'I am about to be gathered to my
people. Bury me with my ancestors-in the cave in the field of Ephron the
Hittite, 30in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the
land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite
as a burial site. 31There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there
Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah- 32the
field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.'
33When Jacob ended his charge to his sons, he drew up his feet into the
bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people. 
50Then Joseph threw himself on his father's face and wept over him and
kissed him. 2Joseph commanded the physicians in his service to embalm
his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel; 3they spent forty days in
doing this, for that is the time required for embalming. And the
Egyptians wept for him for seventy days. 
4 When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph addressed the
household of Pharaoh, 'If now I have found favour with you, please speak
to Pharaoh as follows: 5My father made me swear an oath; he said, "I am
about to die. In the tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of
Canaan, there you shall bury me." Now therefore let me go up, so that I
may bury my father; then I will return.' 6Pharaoh answered, 'Go up, and
bury your father, as he made you swear to do.' 
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the
servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of
the land of Egypt, 8as well as all the household of Joseph, his
brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks,
and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9Both chariots and
charioteers went up with him. It was a very great company. 10When they
came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they
held there a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed a
time of mourning for his father for seven days. 11When the Canaanite
inhabitants of the land saw the mourning on the threshing-floor of Atad,
they said, 'This is a grievous mourning on the part of the Egyptians.'
Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim;* it is beyond the Jordan.
12Thus his sons did for him as he had instructed them. 13They carried
him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at
Machpelah, the field near Mamre, which Abraham bought as a burial site
from Ephron the Hittite. 14After he had buried his father, Joseph
returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to
bury his father.
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1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you
come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18For, to
begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are
divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. 19Indeed, there
have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who
among you are genuine. 20When you come together, it is not really to eat
the Lord's supper. 21For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes
ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes
drunk. 22What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show
contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?
What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not
commend you! 
The Institution of the Lord's Supper23 For I received from the Lord what
I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was
betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke
it and said, 'This is my body that is for* you. Do this in remembrance
of me.' 25In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying,
'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you
drink it, in remembrance of me.' 26For as often as you eat this bread
and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 
Partaking of the Supper Unworthily27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread
or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable
for the body and blood of the Lord. 28Examine yourselves, and only then
eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For all who eat and drink*
without discerning the body,* eat and drink judgement against
themselves. 30For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some
have died.* 31But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. 32But
when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined* so that we may not
be condemned along with the world. 
33 So then, my brothers and sisters,* when you come together to eat,
wait for one another. 34If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you
come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other
things I will give instructions when I come. 
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Mark 8:1-10

In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to
eat, he called his disciples and said to them, 2'I have compassion for
the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have
nothing to eat. 3If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will
faint on the way-and some of them have come from a great distance.' 4His
disciples replied, 'How can one feed these people with bread here in the
desert?' 5He asked them, 'How many loaves do you have?' They said,
'Seven.' 6Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he
took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave
them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the
crowd. 7They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he
ordered that these too should be distributed. 8They ate and were filled;
and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9Now
there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10And
immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the
district of Dalmanutha.*
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 97, 99

Psalm 97

The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
   let the many coastlands be glad! 
2Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
   righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 
3Fire goes before him,
   and consumes his adversaries on every side. 
4His lightnings light up the world;
   the earth sees and trembles. 
5The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
   before the Lord of all the earth. 


6The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
   and all the peoples behold his glory. 
7All worshippers of images are put to shame,
   those who make their boast in worthless idols;
   all gods bow down before him. 
8Zion hears and is glad,
   and the towns* of Judah rejoice,
   because of your judgements, O God. 
9For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
   you are exalted far above all gods. 


10The Lord loves those who hate* evil;
   he guards the lives of his faithful;
   he rescues them from the hand of the wicked. 
11Light dawns* for the righteous,
   and joy for the upright in heart. 
12Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
   and give thanks to his holy name!


Psalm 99

The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
   He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 
2The Lord is great in Zion;
   he is exalted over all the peoples. 
3Let them praise your great and awesome name.
   Holy is he! 
4Mighty King,* lover of justice,
   you have established equity;
you have executed justice
   and righteousness in Jacob. 
5Extol the Lord our God;
   worship at his footstool.
   Holy is he! 


6Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
   Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
   They cried to the Lord, and he answered them. 
7He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
   they kept his decrees,
   and the statutes that he gave them. 


8O Lord our God, you answered them;
   you were a forgiving God to them,
   but an avenger of their wrongdoings. 
9Extol the Lord our God,
   and worship at his holy mountain;
   for the Lord our God is holy.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 94

Psalm 94

O Lord, you God of vengeance,
   you God of vengeance, shine forth! 
2Rise up, O judge of the earth;
   give to the proud what they deserve! 
3O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
   how long shall the wicked exult? 


4They pour out their arrogant words;
   all the evildoers boast. 
5They crush your people, O Lord,
   and afflict your heritage. 
6They kill the widow and the stranger,
   they murder the orphan, 
7and they say, 'The Lord does not see;
   the God of Jacob does not perceive.' 


8Understand, O dullest of the people;
   fools, when will you be wise? 
9He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see? 
10He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
   does he not chastise? 
11The Lord knows our thoughts,*
   that they are but an empty breath. 


12Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,
   and whom you teach out of your law, 
13giving them respite from days of trouble,
   until a pit is dug for the wicked. 
14For the Lord will not forsake his people;
   he will not abandon his heritage; 
15for justice will return to the righteous,
   and all the upright in heart will follow it. 


16Who rises up for me against the wicked?
   Who stands up for me against evildoers? 
17If the Lord had not been my help,
   my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. 
18When I thought, 'My foot is slipping',
   your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. 
19When the cares of my heart are many,
   your consolations cheer my soul. 
20Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
   those who contrive mischief by statute? 
21They band together against the life of the righteous,
   and condemn the innocent to death. 
22But the Lord has become my stronghold,
   and my God the rock of my refuge. 
23He will repay them for their iniquity
   and wipe them out for their wickedness;
   the Lord our God will wipe them out.
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