Friday 12 October 2012 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Friday 12 October 2012  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Micah 3:9-4:5

Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob
   and chiefs of the house of Israel,
who abhor justice
   and pervert all equity, 
who build Zion with blood
   and Jerusalem with wrong! 
Its rulers give judgement for a bribe,
   its priests teach for a price,
   its prophets give oracles for money;
yet they lean upon the Lord and say,
   ‘Surely the Lord is with us!
   No harm shall come upon us.’ 
Therefore because of you
   Zion shall be ploughed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
   and the mountain of the house a wooded height. 

In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it, 
   and many nations shall come and say:
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 
He shall judge between many peoples,
   and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war any more; 
but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
   and no one shall make them afraid;
   for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 


For all the peoples walk,
   each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
   for ever and ever.
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Acts 24:24-25:12

Some days later when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak concerning faith in Christ Jesus. And as he discussed justice, self-control, and the coming judgement, Felix became frightened and said, ‘Go away for the present; when I have an opportunity, I will send for you.’ At the same time he hoped that money would be given to him by Paul, and for that reason he used to send for him very often and converse with him.

 After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and since he wanted to grant the Jews a favour, Felix left Paul in prison.
Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews gave him a report against Paul. They appealed to him and requested, as a favour to them against Paul,* to have him transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, planning an ambush to kill him along the way. Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ‘So’, he said, ‘let those of you who have the authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him.’

 After he had stayed among them for not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. When he arrived, the Jews who had gone down from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove. Paul said in his defence, ‘I have in no way committed an offence against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against the emperor.’ But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favour, asked Paul, ‘Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?’ Paul said, ‘I am appealing to the emperor’s tribunal; this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know. Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.’ Then Festus, after he had conferred with his council, replied, ‘You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go.’
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Luke 8:1-15

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them* out of their resources.
 When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’
 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets* of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak* in parables, so that
“looking they may not perceive,
   and listening they may not understand.”
 ‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 140, 142

Psalm 140

Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;
   protect me from those who are violent, 
who plan evil things in their minds
   and stir up wars continually. 
They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,
   and under their lips is the venom of vipers.
          Selah 


Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
   protect me from the violent
   who have planned my downfall. 
The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
   and with cords they have spread a net;*
   along the road they have set snares for me.
          Selah 


I say to the Lord, ‘You are my God;
   give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.’ 
O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,
   you have covered my head in the day of battle. 
Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
   do not further their evil plot.*
          Selah 


Those who surround me lift up their heads;*
   let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! 
Let burning coals fall on them!
   Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise! 
Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;
   let evil speedily hunt down the violent! 


I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy,
   and executes justice for the poor. 
Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
   the upright shall live in your presence.


Psalm 142

With my voice I cry to the Lord;
   with my voice I make supplication to the Lord. 
I pour out my complaint before him;
   I tell my trouble before him. 
When my spirit is faint,
   you know my way. 


In the path where I walk
   they have hidden a trap for me. 
Look on my right hand and see—
   there is no one who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
   no one cares for me. 


I cry to you, O Lord;
   I say, ‘You are my refuge,
   my portion in the land of the living.’ 
Give heed to my cry,
   for I am brought very low. 


Save me from my persecutors,
   for they are too strong for me. 
Bring me out of prison,
   so that I may give thanks to your name.
The righteous will surround me,
   for you will deal bountifully with me.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 141, 143:1-12

Psalm 141

I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
   give ear to my voice when I call to you. 
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
   and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. 


Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
   keep watch over the door of my lips. 
Do not turn my heart to any evil,
   to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
   do not let me eat of their delicacies. 


Let the righteous strike me;
   let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,*
   for my prayer is continually* against their wicked deeds. 
When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
   then they shall learn that my words were pleasant. 
Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,
   so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.* 


But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenceless. 
Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me,
   and from the snares of evildoers. 
Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
   while I alone escape.


Psalm 143:1-12

Hear my prayer, O Lord;
   give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
   answer me in your righteousness. 
Do not enter into judgement with your servant,
   for no one living is righteous before you. 


For the enemy has pursued me,
   crushing my life to the ground,
   making me sit in darkness like those long dead. 
Therefore my spirit faints within me;
   my heart within me is appalled. 


I remember the days of old,
   I think about all your deeds,
   I meditate on the works of your hands. 
I stretch out my hands to you;
   my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
          Selah 


Answer me quickly, O Lord;
   my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
   or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
   for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
   for to you I lift up my soul. 


Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;
   I have fled to you for refuge.* 
Teach me to do your will,
   for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
   on a level path. 


For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life.
   In your righteousness bring me out of trouble. 
In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,
   and destroy all my adversaries,
   for I am your servant.
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