Thursday 15 May 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Thursday 15 May 2008  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Ezekiel 37:21b-28

then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of
Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them
from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them
one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall
be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never
again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. They shall never again
defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or with
any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies
into which they have fallen,* and will cleanse them. Then they shall be
my people, and I will be their God.

 My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one
shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my
statutes. They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob,
in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their
children's children shall live there for ever; and my servant David
shall be their prince for ever. I will make a covenant of peace with
them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless*
them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them for
evermore. My dwelling-place shall be with them; and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. Then the nations shall know that I the Lord
sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them for evermore.
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1 John 2:18-29

Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is
coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is
the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for
if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by
going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us. But you
have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge.* I
write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you
know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar
but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?* This is the
antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies
the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father
also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you
heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son
and in the Father. And this is what he has promised us,* eternal life.

 I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As
for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so
you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you
about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has
taught you, abide in him.*

 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we
may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.
 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who
does right has been born of him.
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Matthew 10:16-23

'See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be
wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will
hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will
be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to
them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how
you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be
given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit
of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to
death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents
and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my
name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they
persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you
will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man
comes.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 131, 132

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
   my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
   too great and too marvellous for me. 
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
   like a weaned child with its mother;
   my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.* 


O Israel, hope in the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.


Psalm 132

O Lord, remember in David's favour
   all the hardships he endured; 
how he swore to the Lord
   and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, 
'I will not enter my house
   or get into my bed; 
I will not give sleep to my eyes
   or slumber to my eyelids, 
until I find a place for the Lord,
   a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob.' 


We heard of it in Ephrathah;
   we found it in the fields of Jaar. 
'Let us go to his dwelling-place;
   let us worship at his footstool.' 


Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting-place,
   you and the ark of your might. 
Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
   and let your faithful shout for joy. 
For your servant David's sake
   do not turn away the face of your anointed one. 


The Lord swore to David a sure oath
   from which he will not turn back:
'One of the sons of your body
   I will set on your throne. 
If your sons keep my covenant
   and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, for evermore,
   shall sit on your throne.' 


For the Lord has chosen Zion;
   he has desired it for his habitation: 
'This is my resting-place for ever;
   here I will reside, for I have desired it. 
I will abundantly bless its provisions;
   I will satisfy its poor with bread. 
Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
   and its faithful will shout for joy. 
There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
   I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one. 
His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
   but on him, his crown will gleam.'
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 134, 135

Psalm 134

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
   who stand by night in the house of the Lord! 
Lift up your hands to the holy place,
   and bless the Lord. 


May the Lord, maker of heaven and earth,
   bless you from Zion.


Psalm 135

Praise the Lord!
   Praise the name of the Lord;
   give praise, O servants of the Lord, 
you that stand in the house of the Lord,
   in the courts of the house of our God. 
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
   sing to his name, for he is gracious. 
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
   Israel as his own possession. 


For I know that the Lord is great;
   our Lord is above all gods. 
Whatever the Lord pleases he does,
   in heaven and on earth,
   in the seas and all deeps. 
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth;
   he makes lightnings for the rain
   and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 


He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
   both human beings and animals; 
he sent signs and wonders
   into your midst, O Egypt,
   against Pharaoh and all his servants. 
He struck down many nations
   and killed mighty kings- 
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
   and Og, king of Bashan,
   and all the kingdoms of Canaan- 
and gave their land as a heritage,
   a heritage to his people Israel. 


Your name, O Lord, endures for ever,
   your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages. 
For the Lord will vindicate his people,
   and have compassion on his servants. 


The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
   the work of human hands. 
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
   they have eyes, but they do not see; 
they have ears, but they do not hear,
   and there is no breath in their mouths. 
Those who make them
   and all who trust them
   shall become like them. 


O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
   O house of Aaron, bless the Lord! 
O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
   You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord! 
Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
   he who resides in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
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