Wednesday 29 September 2010 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

 Wednesday 29 September 2010 
DAILY LECTIONARY
 
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Hosea 4:11-19
 
whoredom.
 
Wine and new wine
   take away the understanding.
My people consult a piece of wood,
   and their divining-rod gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
   and they have played the whore, forsaking their God.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains,
   and make offerings upon the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
   because their shade is good.
 
 
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
   and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
   nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with whores,
   and sacrifice with temple prostitutes;
thus a people without understanding comes to ruin.
 
 
Though you play the whore, O Israel,
   do not let Judah become guilty.
Do not enter into Gilgal,
   or go up to Beth-aven,
   and do not swear, ‘As the Lord lives.’
Like a stubborn heifer,
   Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
   like a lamb in a broad pasture?
 
 
Ephraim is joined to idols—
   let him alone.
When their drinking is ended, they indulge in sexual orgies;
   they love lewdness more than their glory.*
A wind has wrapped them* in its wings,
   and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.
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Acts 21:15-26
 
After these days we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came along and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.
 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly. The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law. They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law. But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgement that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled* and from fornication.’ Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.
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Luke 5:27-39
 
After this he went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up, left everything, and followed him.
 
 Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax-collectors and others sitting at the table* with them. The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?’ Jesus answered, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’
 Then they said to him, ‘John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.’ Jesus said to them, ‘You cannot make wedding-guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.’ He also told them a parable: ‘No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, “The old is good.” ’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 101, 109
 
Psalm 101
 
I will sing of loyalty and of justice;
   to you, O Lord, I will sing.
I will study the way that is blameless.
   When shall I attain it?
 
 
I will walk with integrity of heart
   within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
   anything that is base.
 
 
I hate the work of those who fall away;
   it shall not cling to me.
Perverseness of heart shall be far from me;
   I will know nothing of evil.
 
 
One who secretly slanders a neighbour
   I will destroy.
A haughty look and an arrogant heart
   I will not tolerate.
 
 
I will look with favour on the faithful in the land,
   so that they may live with me;
whoever walks in the way that is blameless
   shall minister to me.
 
 
No one who practises deceit
   shall remain in my house;
no one who utters lies
   shall continue in my presence.
 
 
Morning by morning I will destroy
   all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all evildoers
   from the city of the Lord.
 
 
Psalm 109
 
Do not be silent, O God of my praise.
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
   speaking against me with lying tongues.
They beset me with words of hate,
   and attack me without cause.
In return for my love they accuse me,
   even while I make prayer for them.*
So they reward me evil for good,
   and hatred for my love.
 
 
They say,* ‘Appoint a wicked man against him;
   let an accuser stand on his right.
When he is tried, let him be found guilty;
   let his prayer be counted as sin.
May his days be few;
   may another seize his position.
May his children be orphans,
   and his wife a widow.
May his children wander about and beg;
   may they be driven out of* the ruins they inhabit.
May the creditor seize all that he has;
   may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.
May there be no one to do him a kindness,
   nor anyone to pity his orphaned children.
May his posterity be cut off;
   may his name be blotted out in the second generation.
May the iniquity of his father* be remembered before the Lord,
   and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Let them be before the Lord continually,
   and may his* memory be cut off from the earth.
For he did not remember to show kindness,
   but pursued the poor and needy
   and the broken-hearted to their death.
He loved to curse; let curses come on him.
   He did not like blessing; may it be far from him.
He clothed himself with cursing as his coat,
   may it soak into his body like water,
   like oil into his bones.
May it be like a garment that he wraps around himself,
   like a belt that he wears every day.’
 
 
May that be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
   of those who speak evil against my life.
But you, O Lord my Lord,
   act on my behalf for your name’s sake;
   because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.
For I am poor and needy,
   and my heart is pierced within me.
I am gone like a shadow at evening;
   I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees are weak through fasting;
   my body has become gaunt.
I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
   when they see me, they shake their heads.
 
 
Help me, O Lord my God!
   Save me according to your steadfast love.
Let them know that this is your hand;
   you, O Lord, have done it.
Let them curse, but you will bless.
   Let my assailants be put to shame;* may your servant be glad.
May my accusers be clothed with dishonour;
   may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle.
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
   I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
   to save them from those who would condemn them to death.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 119:121-144
 
Psalm 119:121-144
 
I have done what is just and right;
   do not leave me to my oppressors.
Guarantee your servant’s well-being;
   do not let the godless oppress me.
My eyes fail from watching for your salvation,
   and for the fulfilment of your righteous promise.
Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,
   and teach me your statutes.
I am your servant; give me understanding,
   so that I may know your decrees.
It is time for the Lord to act,
   for your law has been broken.
Truly I love your commandments
   more than gold, more than fine gold.
Truly I direct my steps by all your precepts;*
   I hate every false way.
 
 
Your decrees are wonderful;
   therefore my soul keeps them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
   it imparts understanding to the simple.
With open mouth I pant,
   because I long for your commandments.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
   as is your custom towards those who love your name.
Keep my steps steady according to your promise,
   and never let iniquity have dominion over me.
Redeem me from human oppression,
   that I may keep your precepts.
Make your face shine upon your servant,
   and teach me your statutes.
My eyes shed streams of tears
   because your law is not kept.
 
 
You are righteous, O Lord,
   and your judgements are right.
You have appointed your decrees in righteousness
   and in all faithfulness.
My zeal consumes me
   because my foes forget your words.
Your promise is well tried,
   and your servant loves it.
I am small and despised,
   yet I do not forget your precepts.
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
   and your law is the truth.
Trouble and anguish have come upon me,
   but your commandments are my delight.
Your decrees are righteous for ever;
   give me understanding that I may live.
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