Saturday 14 January 2012 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Saturday 14 January 2012 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 6:9-22

These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. Make yourself an ark of cypress* wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Make a roof* for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.’ Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
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Hebrews 4:1-13

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.* For we who have believed enter that rest, just as God* has said,
‘As in my anger I swore,
“They shall not enter my rest” ’,
though his works were finished at the foundation of the world. For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’ And again in this place it says, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ Since therefore it remains open for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he sets a certain day—‘today’—saying through David much later, in the words already quoted,
‘Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.’ 
For if Joshua had given them rest, God* would not speak later about another day. So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labours as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.

 Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.
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John 2:13-22

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 20, 21

Psalm 20

The Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
   The name of the God of Jacob protect you! 
May he send you help from the sanctuary,
   and give you support from Zion. 
May he remember all your offerings,
   and regard with favour your burnt sacrifices.
          Selah 


May he grant you your heart’s desire,
   and fulfil all your plans. 
May we shout for joy over your victory,
   and in the name of our God set up our banners.
May the Lord fulfil all your petitions. 


Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed;
   he will answer him from his holy heaven
   with mighty victories by his right hand. 
Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,
   but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. 
They will collapse and fall,
   but we shall rise and stand upright. 


Give victory to the king, O Lord;
   answer us when we call.


Psalm 21

In your strength the king rejoices, O Lord,
   and in your help how greatly he exults! 
You have given him his heart’s desire,
   and have not withheld the request of his lips.
          Selah 
For you meet him with rich blessings;
   you set a crown of fine gold on his head. 
He asked you for life; you gave it to him—
   length of days for ever and ever. 
His glory is great through your help;
   splendour and majesty you bestow on him. 
You bestow on him blessings for ever;
   you make him glad with the joy of your presence. 
For the king trusts in the Lord,
   and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.


Your hand will find out all your enemies;
   your right hand will find out those who hate you. 
You will make them like a fiery furnace
   when you appear.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
   and fire will consume them. 
You will destroy their offspring from the earth,
   and their children from among humankind. 
If they plan evil against you,
   if they devise mischief, they will not succeed. 
For you will put them to flight;
   you will aim at their faces with your bows. 


Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!
   We will sing and praise your power.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 110, 116, 117

Psalm 110

The Lord says to my lord,
   ‘Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.’ 


The Lord sends out from Zion
   your mighty sceptre.
   Rule in the midst of your foes. 
Your people will offer themselves willingly
   on the day you lead your forces
   on the holy mountains.*
From the womb of the morning,
   like dew, your youth* will come to you. 
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,
   ‘You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.’* 


The Lord is at your right hand;
   he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 
He will execute judgement among the nations,
   filling them with corpses;
he will shatter heads
   over the wide earth. 
He will drink from the stream by the path;
   therefore he will lift up his head.


Psalm 116

I love the Lord, because he has heard
   my voice and my supplications. 
Because he inclined his ear to me,
   therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 
The snares of death encompassed me;
   the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
   I suffered distress and anguish. 
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
   ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’ 


Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
   our God is merciful. 
The Lord protects the simple;
   when I was brought low, he saved me. 
Return, O my soul, to your rest,
   for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 


For you have delivered my soul from death,
   my eyes from tears,
   my feet from stumbling. 
I walk before the Lord
   in the land of the living. 
I kept my faith, even when I said,
   ‘I am greatly afflicted’; 
I said in my consternation,
   ‘Everyone is a liar.’ 


What shall I return to the Lord
   for all his bounty to me? 
I will lift up the cup of salvation
   and call on the name of the Lord, 
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people. 
Precious in the sight of the Lord
   is the death of his faithful ones. 
O Lord, I am your servant;
   I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
   You have loosed my bonds. 
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
   and call on the name of the Lord. 
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people, 
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
   in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!


Psalm 117

Praise the Lord, all you nations!
   Extol him, all you peoples! 
For great is his steadfast love towards us,
   and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Praise the Lord!
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