Saturday 17 May 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Saturday 17 May 2008  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Ezekiel 47:1-12

Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was
flowing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the
temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south
end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought
me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the
outer gate that faces towards the east;* and the water was coming out on
the south side.

 Going on eastwards with a cord in his hand, the man measured one
thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was
ankle-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the
water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me
through the water; and it was up to the waist. Again he measured one
thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had
risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed.
He said to me, 'Mortal, have you seen this?'

Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I came back, I saw
on the bank of the river a great many trees on one side and on the
other. He said to me, 'This water flows towards the eastern region and
goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of
stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. Wherever the river goes,*
every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many
fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and
everything will live where the river goes. People will stand fishing
beside the sea* from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the
spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish
of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they
are to be left for salt. On the banks, on both sides of the river, there
will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor
their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because
the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for
food, and their leaves for healing.'
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1 John 3:11-18

For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was from the evil
one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own
deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be astonished,
brothers and sisters,* that the world hates you. We know that we have
passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not
love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister* are murderers,
and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We
know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-and we ought to lay
down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who
has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister* in need and yet
refuses help?

 Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and
action.
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Matthew 10:34-42

'Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not
come to bring peace, but a sword. 
For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 
and one's foes will be members of one's own household. 
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and
whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and
whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life
for my sake will find it.
 'Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the
one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet
will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person
in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the
righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these
little ones in the name of a disciple-truly I tell you, none of these
will lose their reward.' 
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 137:1-9, 144

Psalm 137:1-9

By the rivers of Babylon-
   there we sat down and there we wept
   when we remembered Zion. 
On the willows* there
   we hung up our harps. 
For there our captors
   asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
   'Sing us one of the songs of Zion!' 


How could we sing the Lord's song
   in a foreign land? 
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
   let my right hand wither! 
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
   if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
   above my highest joy. 


Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
   the day of Jerusalem's fall,
how they said, 'Tear it down! Tear it down!
   Down to its foundations!' 
O daughter Babylon, you devastator!*
   Happy shall they be who pay you back
   what you have done to us! 
Happy shall they be who take your little ones
   and dash them against the rock!


Psalm 144

Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
   who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; 
my rock* and my fortress,
   my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
   who subdues the peoples* under me. 


O Lord, what are human beings that you regard them,
   or mortals that you think of them? 
They are like a breath;
   their days are like a passing shadow. 


Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
   touch the mountains so that they smoke. 
Make the lightning flash and scatter them;
   send out your arrows and rout them. 
Stretch out your hand from on high;
   set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters,
   from the hand of aliens, 
whose mouths speak lies,
   and whose right hands are false. 


I will sing a new song to you, O God;
   upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, 
the one who gives victory to kings,
   who rescues his servant David. 
Rescue me from the cruel sword,
   and deliver me from the hand of aliens,
whose mouths speak lies,
   and whose right hands are false. 


May our sons in their youth
   be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars,
   cut for the building of a palace. 
May our barns be filled
   with produce of every kind;
may our sheep increase by thousands,
   by tens of thousands in our fields, 
   and may our cattle be heavy with young.
May there be no breach in the walls,* no exile,
   and no cry of distress in our streets. 


Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall;
   happy are the people whose God is the Lord.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 104

Psalm 104

Bless the Lord, O my soul.
   O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honour and majesty, 
   wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent, 
   you set the beams of your* chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your* chariot,
   you ride on the wings of the wind, 
you make the winds your* messengers,
   fire and flame your* ministers. 


You set the earth on its foundations,
   so that it shall never be shaken. 
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
   the waters stood above the mountains. 
At your rebuke they flee;
   at the sound of your thunder they take to flight. 
They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
   to the place that you appointed for them. 
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
   so that they might not again cover the earth. 


You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
   they flow between the hills, 
giving drink to every wild animal;
   the wild asses quench their thirst. 
By the streams* the birds of the air have their habitation;
   they sing among the branches. 
>From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
   the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. 


You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
   and plants for people to use,*
to bring forth food from the earth, 
   and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
   and bread to strengthen the human heart. 
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
   the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. 
In them the birds build their nests;
   the stork has its home in the fir trees. 
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
   the rocks are a refuge for the coneys. 
You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
   the sun knows its time for setting. 
You make darkness, and it is night,
   when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. 
The young lions roar for their prey,
   seeking their food from God. 
When the sun rises, they withdraw
   and lie down in their dens. 
People go out to their work
   and to their labour until the evening. 


O Lord, how manifold are your works!
   In wisdom you have made them all;
   the earth is full of your creatures. 
Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
   creeping things innumerable are there,
   living things both small and great. 
There go the ships,
   and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it. 


These all look to you
   to give them their food in due season; 
when you give to them, they gather it up;
   when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. 
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
   when you take away their breath, they die
   and return to their dust. 
When you send forth your spirit,* they are created;
   and you renew the face of the ground. 


May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;
   may the Lord rejoice in his works- 
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
   who touches the mountains and they smoke. 
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
   I will sing praise to my God while I have being. 
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
   for I rejoice in the Lord. 
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
   and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!
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