Tuesday 2 February 2010 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

 Tuesday 2 February 2010
DAILY LECTIONARY
 
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Genesis 21:1-21
 
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, ‘God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.’ And she said, ‘Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’
 The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.* So she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.’ The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named after you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
 
 When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, ‘Do not let me look on the death of the child.’ And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.’ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.
 
 God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
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Hebrews 11:13-22
 
All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
 
 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named after you.’ He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, ‘bowing in worship over the top of his staff.’ By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.
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John 6:41-51
 
Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’
 
 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 61, 62
 
Psalm 61
 
Hear my cry, O God;
   listen to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to you,
   when my heart is faint.
 
 
Lead me to the rock
   that is higher than I;
for you are my refuge,
   a strong tower against the enemy.
 
 
Let me abide in your tent for ever,
   find refuge under the shelter of your wings.
          Selah
For you, O God, have heard my vows;
   you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
 
 
Prolong the life of the king;
   may his years endure to all generations!
May he be enthroned for ever before God;
   appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
 
 
So I will always sing praises to your name,
   as I pay my vows day after day.
 
 
Psalm 62
 
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
   from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
   my fortress; I shall never be shaken.
 
 
How long will you assail a person,
   will you batter your victim, all of you,
   as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
   They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
   but inwardly they curse.
          Selah
 
 
For God alone my soul waits in silence,
   for my hope is from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
   my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honour;
   my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
 
 
Trust in him at all times, O people;
   pour out your heart before him;
   God is a refuge for us.
          Selah
 
 
Those of low estate are but a breath,
   those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
   they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no confidence in extortion,
   and set no vain hopes on robbery;
   if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
 
 
Once God has spoken;
   twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
   and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
   according to their work.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 68
 
Psalm 68
 
Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered;
   let those who hate him flee before him.
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
   as wax melts before the fire,
   let the wicked perish before God.
But let the righteous be joyful;
   let them exult before God;
   let them be jubilant with joy.
 
 
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
   lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds*—
his name is the Lord—
   be exultant before him.
 
 
Father of orphans and protector of widows
   is God in his holy habitation.
God gives the desolate a home to live in;
   he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
   but the rebellious live in a parched land.
 
 
O God, when you went out before your people,
   when you marched through the wilderness,
          Selah
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain
   at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,
   at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;
   you restored your heritage when it languished;
your flock found a dwelling in it;
   in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
 
 
The Lord gives the command;
   great is the company of those* who bore the tidings:
   ‘The kings of the armies, they flee, they flee!’
The women at home divide the spoil,
   though they stay among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
   its pinions with green gold.
When the Almighty* scattered kings there,
   snow fell on Zalmon.
 
 
O mighty mountain, mountain of Bashan;
   O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
Why do you look with envy, O many-peaked mountain,
   at the mount that God desired for his abode,
   where the Lord will reside for ever?
 
 
With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand,
   thousands upon thousands,
   the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.*
You ascended the high mount,
   leading captives in your train
   and receiving gifts from people,
even from those who rebel against the Lord God’s abiding there.
Blessed be the Lord,
   who daily bears us up;
   God is our salvation.
          Selah
Our God is a God of salvation,
   and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death.
 
 
But God will shatter the heads of his enemies,
   the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways.
The Lord said,
   ‘I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
so that you may bathe* your feet in blood,
   so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.’
 
 
Your solemn processions are seen,* O God,
   the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
the singers in front, the musicians last,
   between them girls playing tambourines:
‘Bless God in the great congregation,
   the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!’
There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
   the princes of Judah in a body,
   the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
 
 
Summon your might, O God;
   show your strength, O God, as you have done for us before.
Because of your temple at Jerusalem
   kings bear gifts to you.
Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds,
   the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample* under foot those who lust after tribute;
   scatter the peoples who delight in war.*
Let bronze be brought from Egypt;
   let Ethiopia* hasten to stretch out its hands to God.
 
 
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
   sing praises to the Lord,
          Selah
O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
   listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
Ascribe power to God,
   whose majesty is over Israel;
   and whose power is in the skies.
Awesome is God in his* sanctuary,
   the God of Israel;
   he gives power and strength to his people.
 
 
Blessed be God!
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