Monday 20 April 2009 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

 Monday 20 April 2009 
DAILY LECTIONARY
 
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Daniel 1:1-21
 
In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord let King Jehoiakim of Judah fall into his power, as well as some of the vessels of the house of God. These he brought to the land of Shinar,* and placed the vessels in the treasury of his gods.
 
 Then the king commanded his palace master Ashpenaz to bring some of the Israelites of the royal family and of the nobility, young men without physical defect and handsome, versed in every branch of wisdom, endowed with knowledge and insight, and competent to serve in the king’s palace; they were to be taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the royal rations of food and wine. They were to be educated for three years, so that at the end of that time they could be stationed in the king’s court. Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, from the tribe of Judah. The palace master gave them other names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
 
 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine; so he asked the palace master to allow him not to defile himself. Now God allowed Daniel to receive favour and compassion from the palace master. The palace master said to Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king; he has appointed your food and your drink. If he should see you in poorer condition than the other young men of your own age, you would endanger my head with the king.’ Then Daniel asked the guard whom the palace master had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: ‘Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. You can then compare our appearance with the appearance of the young men who eat the royal rations, and deal with your servants according to what you observe.’ So he agreed to this proposal and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was observed that they appeared better and fatter than all the young men who had been eating the royal rations. So the guard continued to withdraw their royal rations and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. To these four young men God gave knowledge and skill in every aspect of literature and wisdom; Daniel also had insight into all visions and dreams.
 
 At the end of the time that the king had set for them to be brought in, the palace master brought them into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar, and the king spoke with them. And among them all, no one was found to compare with Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they were stationed in the king’s court. In every matter of wisdom and understanding concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. And Daniel continued there until the first year of King Cyrus.
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1 John 1:1-10
 
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our* joy may be complete.
 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. ******************************************************************
John 17:1-11
 
After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people,* to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
 
 ‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
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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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