Tuesday 4 March 2014 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Tuesday 4 March 2014 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Proverbs 30:1-4,24-33

The words of Agur son of Jakeh. An oracle. 


Thus says the man: I am weary, O God,
   I am weary, O God. How can I prevail?* 
Surely I am too stupid to be human;
   I do not have human understanding. 
I have not learned wisdom,
   nor have I knowledge of the holy ones.* 
Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
   Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
   Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is the person’s name?
   And what is the name of the person’s child?
   Surely you know! 


Every word of God proves true;
   he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 
Do not add to his words,
   or else he will rebuke you, and you will be found a liar. 


Two things I ask of you;
   do not deny them to me before I die: 
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
   give me neither poverty nor riches;
   feed me with the food that I need, 
or I shall be full, and deny you,
   and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
or I shall be poor, and steal,
   and profane the name of my God. 


Do not slander a servant to a master,
   or the servant will curse you, and you will be held guilty. 


There are those who curse their fathers
   and do not bless their mothers. 
There are those who are pure in their own eyes
   yet are not cleansed of their filthiness. 
There are those—how lofty are their eyes,
   how high their eyelids lift!— 
there are those whose teeth are swords,
   whose teeth are knives,
to devour the poor from off the earth,
   the needy from among mortals. 


The leech* has two daughters;
   ‘Give, give,’ they cry.
Three things are never satisfied;
   four never say, ‘Enough’: 
Sheol, the barren womb,
   the earth ever thirsty for water,
   and the fire that never says, ‘Enough.’* 


The eye that mocks a father
   and scorns to obey a mother
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley
   and eaten by the vultures. 


Three things are too wonderful for me;
   four I do not understand: 
the way of an eagle in the sky,
   the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
   and the way of a man with a girl. 


This is the way of an adulteress:
   she eats, and wipes her mouth,
   and says, ‘I have done no wrong.’ 


Under three things the earth trembles;
   under four it cannot bear up: 
a slave when he becomes king,
   and a fool when glutted with food; 
an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
   and a maid when she succeeds her mistress. 


Four things on earth are small,
   yet they are exceedingly wise: 
the ants are a people without strength,
   yet they provide their food in the summer; 
the badgers are a people without power,
   yet they make their homes in the rocks; 
the locusts have no king,
   yet all of them march in rank; 
the lizard* can be grasped in the hand,
   yet it is found in kings’ palaces. 


Three things are stately in their stride;
   four are stately in their gait: 
the lion, which is mightiest among wild animals
   and does not turn back before any; 
the strutting rooster,* the he-goat,
   and a king striding before* his people. 


If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
   or if you have been devising evil,
   put your hand on your mouth. 
For as pressing milk produces curds,
   and pressing the nose produces blood,
   so pressing anger produces strife.
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Philippians 3:1-11

Finally, my brothers and sisters,* rejoice* in the Lord. 

To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard.

 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!* For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God* and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh— even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ,* the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ* and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
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John 18:28-38

Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters.* It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters,* so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’ They answered, ‘If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.’ The Jews replied, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death.’ (This was to fulfil what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

 Then Pilate entered the headquarters* again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, ‘I find no case against him.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 26, 28

Psalm 26

Vindicate me, O Lord,
   for I have walked in my integrity,
   and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. 
Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
   test my heart and mind. 
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
   and I walk in faithfulness to you.* 


I do not sit with the worthless,
   nor do I consort with hypocrites; 
I hate the company of evildoers,
   and will not sit with the wicked. 


I wash my hands in innocence,
   and go around your altar, O Lord, 
singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
   and telling all your wondrous deeds. 


O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,
   and the place where your glory abides. 
Do not sweep me away with sinners,
   nor my life with the bloodthirsty, 
those in whose hands are evil devices,
   and whose right hands are full of bribes. 


But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
   redeem me, and be gracious to me. 
My foot stands on level ground;
   in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.


Psalm 28

To you, O Lord, I call;
   my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
   I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 
Hear the voice of my supplication,
   as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
   towards your most holy sanctuary.* 


Do not drag me away with the wicked,
   with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbours,
   while mischief is in their hearts. 
Repay them according to their work,
   and according to the evil of their deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
   render them their due reward. 
Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
   or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more. 


Blessed be the Lord,
   for he has heard the sound of my pleadings. 
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
   in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
   and with my song I give thanks to him. 


The Lord is the strength of his people;
   he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 
O save your people, and bless your heritage;
   be their shepherd, and carry them for ever.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 36, 39

Psalm 36

Transgression speaks to the wicked
   deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
   before their eyes. 
For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
   that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 
The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
   they have ceased to act wisely and do good. 
They plot mischief while on their beds;
   they are set on a way that is not good;
   they do not reject evil. 


Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
   your faithfulness to the clouds. 
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
   your judgements are like the great deep;
   you save humans and animals alike, O Lord. 


How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
   All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 
They feast on the abundance of your house,
   and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 
For with you is the fountain of life;
   in your light we see light. 


O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
   and your salvation to the upright of heart! 
Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
   or the hand of the wicked drive me away. 
There the evildoers lie prostrate;
   they are thrust down, unable to rise.


Psalm 39

I said, ‘I will guard my ways
   that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
   as long as the wicked are in my presence.’ 
I was silent and still;
   I held my peace to no avail;
my distress grew worse, 
   my heart became hot within me.
While I mused, the fire burned;
   then I spoke with my tongue: 


‘Lord, let me know my end,
   and what is the measure of my days;
   let me know how fleeting my life is. 
You have made my days a few handbreadths,
   and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight.
Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. 
          Selah 
   Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
   they heap up, and do not know who will gather. 


‘And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
   My hope is in you. 
Deliver me from all my transgressions.
   Do not make me the scorn of the fool. 
I am silent; I do not open my mouth,
   for it is you who have done it. 
Remove your stroke from me;
   I am worn down by the blows* of your hand. 


‘You chastise mortals
   in punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is dear to them;
   surely everyone is a mere breath. 
          Selah


‘Hear my prayer, O Lord,
   and give ear to my cry;
   do not hold your peace at my tears.
For I am your passing guest,
   an alien, like all my forebears. 
Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again,
   before I depart and am no more.’
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