Thursday 12 September 2013 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Thursday 12 September 2013 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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1 Kings 18:1-19

After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought,* saying, ‘Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.’ 2So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. 3Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah revered the Lord greatly; 4when Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water.) 5Then Ahab said to Obadiah, ‘Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.’ 6So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself. 
7 As Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him; Obadiah recognized him, fell on his face, and said, ‘Is it you, my lord Elijah?’ 8He answered him, ‘It is I. Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.’ 9And he said, ‘How have I sinned, that you would hand your servant over to Ahab, to kill me? 10As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to seek you; and when they would say, “He is not here”, he would require an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11But now you say, “Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.” 12As soon as I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where; so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the Lord from my youth. 13Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water? 14Yet now you say, “Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here”; he will surely kill me.’ 15Elijah said, ‘As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.’ 16So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ‘Is it you, you troubler of Israel?’ 18He answered, ‘I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.’ ******************************************************************
Philippians 2:12-30

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 
14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing, 15so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. 16It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labour in vain. 17But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you— 18and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me. 
Timothy and Epaphroditus19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you. 20I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22But Timothy’s* worth you know, how like a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things go with me; 24and I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon. 
25 Still, I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus—my brother and co-worker and fellow-soldier, your messenger* and minister to my need; 26for he has been longing for* all of you, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another. 28I am the more eager to send him, therefore, in order that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29Welcome him then in the Lord with all joy, and honour such people, 30because he came close to death for the work of Christ,* risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me. ******************************************************************
Matthew 2:13-23

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ 14Then Joseph* got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’ 
The Massacre of the Infants16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,* he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.* 17Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 
18‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
   wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
   she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’ 
The Return from Egypt19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ 21Then Joseph* got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’ 
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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. 
2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
   God shines forth. 


3Our God comes and does not keep silence,
   before him is a devouring fire,
   and a mighty tempest all around him. 
4He calls to the heavens above
   and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 
5‘Gather to me my faithful ones,
   who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!’ 
6The heavens declare his righteousness,
   for God himself is judge.
          Selah 


7‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
   O Israel, I will testify against you.
   I am God, your God. 
8Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
   your burnt-offerings are continually before me. 
9I will not accept a bull from your house,
   or goats from your folds. 
10For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
   the cattle on a thousand hills. 
11I know all the birds of the air,*
   and all that moves in the field is mine. 


12‘If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
   for the world and all that is in it is mine. 
13Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
   or drink the blood of goats? 
14Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,*
   and pay your vows to the Most High. 
15Call on me in the day of trouble;
   I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’ 


16But to the wicked God says:
   ‘What right have you to recite my statutes,
   or take my covenant on your lips? 
17For you hate discipline,
   and you cast my words behind you. 
18You make friends with a thief when you see one,
   and you keep company with adulterers. 


19‘You give your mouth free rein for evil,
   and your tongue frames deceit. 
20You sit and speak against your kin;
   you slander your own mother’s child. 
21These 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. 


22‘Mark this, then, you who forget God,
   or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. 
23Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me;
   to those who go the right way*
   I will show the salvation of God.’
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 93, 96

Psalm 93

The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty;
   the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength.
He has established the world; it shall never be moved; 
   your throne is established from of old;
   you are from everlasting. 


The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
   the floods have lifted up their voice;
   the floods lift up their roaring. 
More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
   more majestic than the waves* of the sea,
   majestic on high is the Lord! 


Your decrees are very sure;
   holiness befits your house,
   O Lord, for evermore.


Psalm 96

O sing to the Lord a new song;
   sing to the Lord, all the earth. 
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
   tell of his salvation from day to day. 
Declare his glory among the nations,
   his marvellous works among all the peoples. 
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
   he is to be revered above all gods. 
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
   but the Lord made the heavens. 
Honour and majesty are before him;
   strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 


Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
   bring an offering, and come into his courts. 
Worship the Lord in holy splendour;
   tremble before him, all the earth. 


Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!
   The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
   He will judge the peoples with equity.’ 
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
   let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 
   let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 
   before the Lord; for he is coming,
   for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
   and the peoples with his truth.
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