Thursday 25 June 2009 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

 Thursday 25 June 2009
DAILY LECTIONARY
 
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1 Samuel 8:1-22
 
When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beer-sheba. Yet his sons did not follow in his ways, but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted justice.
 
 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.’ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to govern us.’ Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me,* from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’
 
 So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, ‘These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle* and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.’
 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, ‘No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.’ When Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to their voice and set a king over them.’ Samuel then said to the people of Israel, ‘Each of you return home.’
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Acts 6:15-7:16
 
And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Then the high priest asked him, ‘Are these things so?’ And Stephen replied:
 
‘Brothers* and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, “Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.” Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living. He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and maltreat them for four hundred years. “But I will judge the nation that they serve,” said God, “and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.” Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham* became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
 
 ‘The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him, and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favour and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all; so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors, and their bodies* were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
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Luke 22:24-30
 
A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
 
 ‘You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 105:1-22
 
Psalm 105:1-22
 
O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
   make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
   tell of all his wonderful works.
Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength;
   seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgements he has uttered,
O offspring of his servant Abraham,*
   children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
 
 
He is the Lord our God;
   his judgements are in all the earth.
He is mindful of his covenant for ever,
   of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
the covenant that he made with Abraham,
   his sworn promise to Isaac,
which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
   to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan
   as your portion for an inheritance.’
 
 
When they were few in number,
   of little account, and strangers in it,
wandering from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another people,
he allowed no one to oppress them;
   he rebuked kings on their account,
saying, ‘Do not touch my anointed ones;
   do my prophets no harm.’
 
 
When he summoned famine against the land,
   and broke every staff of bread,
he had sent a man ahead of them,
   Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
His feet were hurt with fetters,
   his neck was put in a collar of iron;
until what he had said came to pass,
   the word of the Lord kept testing him.
The king sent and released him;
   the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house,
   and ruler of all his possessions,
to instruct* his officials at his pleasure,
   and to teach his elders wisdom.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 105:23-45
 
Psalm 105:23-45
 
Then Israel came to Egypt;
   Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
And the Lord made his people very fruitful,
   and made them stronger than their foes,
whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
   to deal craftily with his servants.
 
 
He sent his servant Moses,
   and Aaron whom he had chosen.
They performed his signs among them,
   and miracles in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
   they rebelled* against his words.
He turned their waters into blood,
   and caused their fish to die.
Their land swarmed with frogs,
   even in the chambers of their kings.
He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
   and gnats throughout their country.
He gave them hail for rain,
   and lightning that flashed through their land.
He struck their vines and fig trees,
   and shattered the trees of their country.
He spoke, and the locusts came,
   and young locusts without number;
they devoured all the vegetation in their land,
   and ate up the fruit of their ground.
He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
   the first issue of all their strength.
 
 
Then he brought Israel* out with silver and gold,
   and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.
Egypt was glad when they departed,
   for dread of them had fallen upon it.
He spread a cloud for a covering,
   and fire to give light by night.
They asked, and he brought quails,
   and gave them food from heaven in abundance.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
   it flowed through the desert like a river.
For he remembered his holy promise,
   and Abraham, his servant.
 
 
So he brought his people out with joy,
   his chosen ones with singing.
He gave them the lands of the nations,
   and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
that they might keep his statutes
   and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!
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