Monday 19 May 2008 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 19 May 2008  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Proverbs 3:11-20

My child, do not despise the Lord's discipline
   or be weary of his reproof, 
for the Lord reproves the one he loves,
   as a father the son in whom he delights. 


Happy are those who find wisdom,
   and those who get understanding, 
for her income is better than silver,
   and her revenue better than gold. 
She is more precious than jewels,
   and nothing you desire can compare with her. 
Long life is in her right hand;
   in her left hand are riches and honour. 
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
   and all her paths are peace. 
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
   those who hold her fast are called happy. 


The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
   by understanding he established the heavens; 
by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
   and the clouds drop down the dew.
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1 John 3:18-4:6

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and
action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will
reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God
is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our
hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive
from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what
pleases him.

 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his
Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All
who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by
this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into
the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every
spirit that does not confess Jesus* is not from God. And this is the
spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and
now it is already in the world. Little children, you are from God, and
have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one
who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore what they say is
from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever
knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to
us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
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Matthew 11:1-6

Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on
from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.
 When John heard in prison what the Messiah* was doing, he sent word by
his* disciples and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or are
we to wait for another?' Jesus answered them, 'Go and tell John what you
hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers*
are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good
news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.'
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 1, 2, 3

Psalm 1

Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers; 
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night. 
They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper. 


The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.


Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire,
   and the peoples plot in vain? 
The kings of the earth set themselves,
   and the rulers take counsel together,
   against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 
'Let us burst their bonds asunder,
   and cast their cords from us.' 


He who sits in the heavens laughs;
   the Lord has them in derision. 
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
   and terrify them in his fury, saying, 
'I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.' 


I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, 'You are my son;
   today I have begotten you. 
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
   and the ends of the earth your possession. 
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
   and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.' 


Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
   be warned, O rulers of the earth. 
Serve the Lord with fear,
   with trembling kiss his feet,*
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
   for his wrath is quickly kindled. 


Happy are all who take refuge in him.


Psalm 3

O Lord, how many are my foes!
   Many are rising against me; 
many are saying to me,
   'There is no help for you* in God.'
          Selah 


But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,
   my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. 
I cry aloud to the Lord,
   and he answers me from his holy hill.
          Selah 


I lie down and sleep;
   I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. 
I am not afraid of tens of thousands of people
   who have set themselves against me all around. 


Rise up, O Lord!
   Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
   you break the teeth of the wicked. 


Deliverance belongs to the Lord;
   may your blessing be on your people!
          Selah
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 4, 7

Psalm 4

Answer me when I call, O God of my right!
   You gave me room when I was in distress.
   Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. 


How long, you people, shall my honour suffer shame?
   How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?
          Selah 
But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;
   the Lord hears when I call to him. 


When you are disturbed,* do not sin;
   ponder it on your beds, and be silent.
          Selah 
Offer right sacrifices,
   and put your trust in the Lord. 


There are many who say, 'O that we might see some good!
   Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!' 
You have put gladness in my heart
   more than when their grain and wine abound. 


I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
   for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.


Psalm 7

O Lord my God, in you I take refuge;
   save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me, 
or like a lion they will tear me apart;
   they will drag me away, with no one to rescue. 


O Lord my God, if I have done this,
   if there is wrong in my hands, 
if I have repaid my ally with harm
   or plundered my foe without cause, 
then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,
   trample my life to the ground,
   and lay my soul in the dust.
          Selah 


Rise up, O Lord, in your anger;
   lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
   awake, O my God;* you have appointed a judgement. 
Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,
   and over it take your seat* on high. 
The Lord judges the peoples;
   judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
   and according to the integrity that is in me. 


O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
   but establish the righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
   O righteous God. 
God is my shield,
   who saves the upright in heart. 
God is a righteous judge,
   and a God who has indignation every day. 


If one does not repent, God* will whet his sword;
   he has bent and strung his bow; 
he has prepared his deadly weapons,
   making his arrows fiery shafts. 
See how they conceive evil,
   and are pregnant with mischief,
   and bring forth lies. 
They make a pit, digging it out,
   and fall into the hole that they have made. 
Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
   and on their own heads their violence descends. 


I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
   and sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
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