Thursday 21 February 2013 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Thursday 21 February 2013  
DAILY LECTIONARY

Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org
******************************************************************
Deuteronomy 9:23-10:5

And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and occupy the land that I have given you’, you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, neither trusting him nor obeying him. You have been rebellious against the Lord as long as he has* known you.

 Throughout the forty days and forty nights that I lay prostrate before the Lord when the Lord intended to destroy you, I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Lord God, do not destroy the people who are your very own possession, whom you redeemed in your greatness, whom you brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; pay no attention to the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin, otherwise the land from which you have brought us might say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to let them die in the wilderness.” For they are the people of your very own possession, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’
At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Carve out two tablets of stone like the former ones, and come up to me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you smashed, and you shall put them in the ark.’ So I made an ark of acacia wood, cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. Then he wrote on the tablets the same words as before, the ten commandments* that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. So I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark that I had made; and there they are, as the Lord commanded me.
******************************************************************
Hebrews 4:1-10

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.
 ******************************************************************
John 3:16-21
 
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

 ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’* ******************************************************************
Morning Psalms: Psalm 50

Psalm 50

The mighty one, God the Lord,
   speaks and summons the earth
   from the rising of the sun to its setting. 
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
   God shines forth. 


Our God comes and does not keep silence,
   before him is a devouring fire,
   and a mighty tempest all around him. 
He calls to the heavens above
   and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 
‘Gather to me my faithful ones,
   who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!’ 
The heavens declare his righteousness,
   for God himself is judge.
          Selah 


‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
   O Israel, I will testify against you.
   I am God, your God. 
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
   your burnt-offerings are continually before me. 
I will not accept a bull from your house,
   or goats from your folds. 
For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
   the cattle on a thousand hills. 
I know all the birds of the air,*
   and all that moves in the field is mine. 


‘If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
   for the world and all that is in it is mine. 
Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
   or drink the blood of goats? 
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,*
   and pay your vows to the Most High. 
Call on me in the day of trouble;
   I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’ 


But to the wicked God says:
   ‘What right have you to recite my statutes,
   or take my covenant on your lips? 
For you hate discipline,
   and you cast my words behind you. 
You make friends with a thief when you see one,
   and you keep company with adulterers. 


‘You give your mouth free rein for evil,
   and your tongue frames deceit. 
You sit and speak against your kin;
   you slander your own mother’s child. 
These things you have done and I have been silent;
   you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you. 


‘Mark this, then, you who forget God,
   or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. 
Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me;
   to those who go the right way*
   I will show the salvation of God.’

******************************************************************
Evening Psalms: Psalm 59, 60, 19, 46

Psalm 59

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
   protect me from those who rise up against me. 
Deliver me from those who work evil;
   from the bloodthirsty save me. 


Even now they lie in wait for my life;
   the mighty stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, 
   for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. 


Rouse yourself, come to my help and see! 
   You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Awake to punish all the nations;
   spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.
          Selah 


Each evening they come back,
   howling like dogs
   and prowling about the city. 
There they are, bellowing with their mouths,
   with sharp words* on their lips—
   for ‘Who’, they think,* ‘will hear us?’ 


But you laugh at them, O Lord;
   you hold all the nations in derision. 
O my strength, I will watch for you;
   for you, O God, are my fortress. 
My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
   my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. 


Do not kill them, or my people may forget;
   make them totter by your power, and bring them down,
   O Lord, our shield. 
For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
   let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter, 
   consume them in wrath;
   consume them until they are no more.
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
   that God rules over Jacob.
          Selah 


Each evening they come back,
   howling like dogs
   and prowling about the city. 
They roam about for food,
   and growl if they do not get their fill. 


But I will sing of your might;
   I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been a fortress for me
   and a refuge on the day of my distress. 
O my strength, I will sing praises to you,
   for you, O God, are my fortress,
   the God who shows me steadfast love.


Psalm 60

O God, you have rejected us, broken our defences;
   you have been angry; now restore us! 
You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open;
   repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering. 
You have made your people suffer hard things;
   you have given us wine to drink that made us reel. 


You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
   to rally to it out of bowshot.* 
          Selah 
Give victory with your right hand, and answer us,*
   so that those whom you love may be rescued. 


God has promised in his sanctuary:*
   ‘With exultation I will divide up Shechem,
   and portion out the Vale of Succoth. 
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
   Ephraim is my helmet;
   Judah is my sceptre. 
Moab is my wash-basin;
   on Edom I hurl my shoe;
   over Philistia I shout in triumph.’ 


Who will bring me to the fortified city?
   Who will lead me to Edom? 
Have you not rejected us, O God?
   You do not go out, O God, with our armies. 
O grant us help against the foe,
   for human help is worthless. 
With God we shall do valiantly;
   it is he who will tread down our foes.


Psalm 19

The heavens are telling the glory of God;
   and the firmament* proclaims his handiwork. 
Day to day pours forth speech,
   and night to night declares knowledge. 
There is no speech, nor are there words;
   their voice is not heard; 
yet their voice* goes out through all the earth,
   and their words to the end of the world. 


In the heavens* he has set a tent for the sun, 
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
   and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
   and its circuit to the end of them;
   and nothing is hidden from its heat. 


The law of the Lord is perfect,
   reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
   making wise the simple; 
the precepts of the Lord are right,
   rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
   enlightening the eyes; 
the fear of the Lord is pure,
   enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
   and righteous altogether. 
More to be desired are they than gold,
   even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
   and drippings of the honeycomb. 


Moreover by them is your servant warned;
   in keeping them there is great reward. 
But who can detect their errors?
   Clear me from hidden faults. 
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;*
   do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
   and innocent of great transgression. 


Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
   be acceptable to you,
   O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.


Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
   a very present* help in trouble. 
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; 
though its waters roar and foam,
   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
          Selah 


There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy habitation of the Most High. 
God is in the midst of the city;* it shall not be moved;
   God will help it when the morning dawns. 
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
   he utters his voice, the earth melts. 
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.*
          Selah 


Come, behold the works of the Lord;
   see what desolations he has brought on the earth. 
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire. 
‘Be still, and know that I am God!
   I am exalted among the nations,
   I am exalted in the earth.’ 
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.*
          Selah
******************************************************************