Thursday 5 November 2009 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

 Thursday 5 November 2009
DAILY LECTIONARY
 
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Ezra 7:1-26
 
After this, in the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of the chief priest Aaron— this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the Lord the God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him.
 
 Some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants also went up to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. They came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. On the first day of the first month the journey up from Babylon was begun, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him. For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach the statutes and ordinances in Israel.
 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to the priest Ezra, the scribe, a scholar of the text of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel: ‘Artaxerxes, king of kings, to the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven: Peace.* And now I decree that any of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom who freely offers to go to Jerusalem may go with you. For you are sent by the king and his seven counsellors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand, and also to convey the silver and gold that the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill-offerings of the people and the priests, given willingly for the house of their God in Jerusalem. With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, and their grain-offerings and their drink-offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. Whatever seems good to you and your colleagues to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which you are responsible for providing, you may provide out of the king’s treasury.
 
 ‘I, King Artaxerxes, decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred cors of wheat, one hundred baths* of wine, one hundred baths* of oil, and unlimited salt. Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, or wrath will come upon the realm of the king and his heirs. We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on any of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
 
 ‘And you, Ezra, according to the God-given wisdom you possess, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River who know the laws of your God; and you shall teach those who do not know them. All who will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgement be strictly executed on them, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of their goods or for imprisonment.’
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Revelation 14:1-13
 
Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.
 Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live* on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people. He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgement has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.’
 
 Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’
 
 Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, ‘Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.’
 
 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of* Jesus.
 
 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them.’
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Matthew 14:1-12
 
At that time Herod the ruler* heard reports about Jesus; and he said to his servants, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,* because John had been telling him, ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’ Though Herod* wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’ The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 71
 
Psalm 71
 
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
   let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
   incline your ear to me and save me.
Be to me a rock of refuge,
   a strong fortress,* to save me,
   for you are my rock and my fortress.
 
 
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
   from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
For you, O Lord, are my hope,
   my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
   it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.
 
 
I have been like a portent to many,
   but you are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with your praise,
   and with your glory all day long.
Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
   do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
For my enemies speak concerning me,
   and those who watch for my life consult together.
They say, ‘Pursue and seize that person
   whom God has forsaken,
   for there is no one to deliver.’
 
 
O God, do not be far from me;
   O my God, make haste to help me!
Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
   let those who seek to hurt me
   be covered with scorn and disgrace.
But I will hope continually,
   and will praise you yet more and more.
My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
   of your deeds of salvation all day long,
   though their number is past my knowledge.
I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God,
   I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.
 
 
O God, from my youth you have taught me,
   and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
So even to old age and grey hairs,
   O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might
   to all the generations to come.*
Your power and your righteousness, O God,
   reach the high heavens.
 
 
You who have done great things,
   O God, who is like you?
You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
   will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
   you will bring me up again.
You will increase my honour,
   and comfort me once again.
 
 
I will also praise you with the harp
   for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
   O Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy
   when I sing praises to you;
   my soul also, which you have rescued.
All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help,
for those who tried to do me harm
   have been put to shame, and disgraced.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 74
 
Psalm 74
 
O God, why do you cast us off for ever?
   Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago,
   which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage.
   Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell.
Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
   the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.
 
 
Your foes have roared within your holy place;
   they set up their emblems there.
At the upper entrance they hacked
   the wooden trellis with axes.*
And then, with hatchets and hammers,
   they smashed all its carved work.
They set your sanctuary on fire;
   they desecrated the dwelling-place of your name,
   bringing it to the ground.
They said to themselves, ‘We will utterly subdue them’;
   they burned all the meeting-places of God in the land.
 
 
We do not see our emblems;
   there is no longer any prophet,
   and there is no one among us who knows how long.
How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
   Is the enemy to revile your name for ever?
Why do you hold back your hand;
   why do you keep your hand in* your bosom?
 
 
Yet God my King is from of old,
   working salvation in the earth.
You divided the sea by your might;
   you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
   you gave him as food* for the creatures of the wilderness.
You cut openings for springs and torrents;
   you dried up ever-flowing streams.
Yours is the day, yours also the night;
   you established the luminaries* and the sun.
You have fixed all the bounds of the earth;
   you made summer and winter.
 
 
Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
   and an impious people reviles your name.
Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals;
   do not forget the life of your poor for ever.
 
 
Have regard for your* covenant,
   for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.
Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;
   let the poor and needy praise your name.
Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
   remember how the impious scoff at you all day long.
Do not forget the clamour of your foes,
   the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.
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