Monday 17 March 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 17 March 2008 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Lamentations 1:1-2, 6-12

How lonely sits the city
   that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
   she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
   has become a vassal. 


2She weeps bitterly in the night,
   with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
   she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
   they have become her enemies. 


3Judah has gone into exile with suffering
   and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations,
   and finds no resting-place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
   in the midst of her distress. 


4The roads to Zion mourn,
   for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate,
   her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,*
   and her lot is bitter. 


5Her foes have become the masters,
   her enemies prosper,
because the Lord has made her suffer
   for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
   captives before the foe. 


6From daughter Zion has departed
   all her majesty.
Her princes have become like stags
   that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
   before the pursuer. 


7Jerusalem remembers,
   in the days of her affliction and wandering,
all the precious things
   that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
   and there was no one to help her,
the foe looked on mocking
   over her downfall. 


8Jerusalem sinned grievously,
   so she has become a mockery;
all who honoured her despise her,
   for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans,
   and turns her face away. 


9Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
   she took no thought of her future;
her downfall was appalling,
   with none to comfort her.
'O Lord, look at my affliction,
   for the enemy has triumphed!' 


10Enemies have stretched out their hands
   over all her precious things;
she has even seen the nations
   invade her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
   to enter your congregation. 


11All her people groan
   as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
   to revive their strength.
Look, O Lord, and see
   how worthless I have become. 


12Is it nothing to you,* all you who pass by?
   Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
   which was brought upon me,
which the Lord inflicted
   on the day of his fierce anger. 
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2 Corinthians 1:1-7

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our
brother,
To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints
throughout Achaia: 
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 


Paul's Thanksgiving after Affliction3 Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all
consolation, 4who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be
able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation
with which we ourselves are consoled by God. 5For just as the sufferings
of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant
through Christ. 6If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation
and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation,
which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that
we are also suffering. 7Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that
as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
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Mark 11:12-25

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.
13Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether
perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found
nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14He said to it,
'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' And his disciples heard it. 
Jesus Cleanses the Temple15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered
the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who
were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the
money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16and he would not
allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17He was teaching and
saying, 'Is it not written,
"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations"?
   But you have made it a den of robbers.' 
18And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking
for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole
crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 19And when evening came, Jesus and
his disciples* went out of the city. 
The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree20 In the morning as they passed
by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21Then Peter
remembered and said to him, 'Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed
has withered.' 22Jesus answered them, 'Have* faith in God. 23Truly I
tell you, if you say to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the
sea", and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you
say will come to pass, it will be done for you. 24So I tell you,
whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received* it, and
it will be yours. 
25 'Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against
anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your
trespasses.'* 
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 51:1-20

Psalm 51:1-20

Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
   blot out my transgressions. 
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin. 


3For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is ever before me. 
4Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
   and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
   and blameless when you pass judgement. 
5Indeed, I was born guilty,
   a sinner when my mother conceived me. 


6You desire truth in the inward being;*
   therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
   wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 
8Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 
9Hide your face from my sins,
   and blot out all my iniquities. 


10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and put a new and right* spirit within me. 
11Do not cast me away from your presence,
   and do not take your holy spirit from me. 
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and sustain in me a willing* spirit. 


13Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   and sinners will return to you. 
14Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
   O God of my salvation,
   and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. 


15O Lord, open my lips,
   and my mouth will declare your praise. 
16For you have no delight in sacrifice;
   if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased. 
17The sacrifice acceptable to God* is a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 


18Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
   rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 
19then you will delight in right sacrifices,
   in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings;
   then bulls will be offered on your altar.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 69:1-23

Psalm 69:1-23

Save me, O God,
   for the waters have come up to my neck. 
2I sink in deep mire,
   where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
   and the flood sweeps over me. 
3I am weary with my crying;
   my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
   with waiting for my God. 


4More in number than the hairs of my head
   are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
   my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal
   must I now restore? 
5O God, you know my folly;
   the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. 


6Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
   O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonoured because of me,
   O God of Israel. 
7It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
   that shame has covered my face. 
8I have become a stranger to my kindred,
   an alien to my mother's children. 


9It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
   the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. 
10When I humbled my soul with fasting,*
   they insulted me for doing so. 
11When I made sackcloth my clothing,
   I became a byword to them. 
12I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
   and the drunkards make songs about me. 


13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
   At an acceptable time, O God,
   in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help 14rescue me
   from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
   and from the deep waters. 
15Do not let the flood sweep over me,
   or the deep swallow me up,
   or the Pit close its mouth over me. 


16Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
   according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. 
17Do not hide your face from your servant,
   for I am in distress-make haste to answer me. 
18Draw near to me, redeem me,
   set me free because of my enemies. 


19You know the insults I receive,
   and my shame and dishonour;
   my foes are all known to you. 
20Insults have broken my heart,
   so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
   and for comforters, but I found none. 
21They gave me poison for food,
   and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. 


22Let their table be a trap for them,
   a snare for their allies. 
23Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
   and make their loins tremble continually.
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