Sunday 6 December 2015 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Sunday 6 December 2015
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Amos 6:1-14

Alas for those who are at ease in Zion,
   and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
the notables of the first of the nations,
   to whom the house of Israel resorts! 
Cross over to Calneh, and see;
   from there go to Hamath the great;
   then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better* than these kingdoms?
   Or is your* territory greater than their* territory, 
O you that put far away the evil day,
   and bring near a reign of violence? 


Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory,
   and lounge on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock,
   and calves from the stall; 
who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
   and like David improvise on instruments of music; 
who drink wine from bowls,
   and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
   but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! 
Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
   and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away. 


The Lord God has sworn by himself
(says the Lord, the God of hosts):
I abhor the pride of Jacob
   and hate his strongholds;
   and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it. 

 If ten people remain in one house, they shall die. And if a relative, one who burns the dead,* shall take up the body to bring it out of the house, and shall say to someone in the innermost parts of the house, ‘Is anyone else with you?’ the answer will come, ‘No.’ Then the relative* shall say, ‘Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.’ 


See, the Lord commands,
   and the great house shall be shattered to bits,
   and the little house to pieces. 
Do horses run on rocks?
   Does one plough the sea with oxen?*
But you have turned justice into poison
   and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood— 
you who rejoice in Lo-debar,*
   who say, ‘Have we not by our own strength
   taken Karnaim* for ourselves?’ 
Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation,
   O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts,
and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
   to the Wadi Arabah.
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Thessalonians 1:5-12

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Luke 1:57-68
 
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, ‘No; he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘None of your relatives has this name.’ Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbours, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, ‘What then will this child become?’ For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.
 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: 
‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
   for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 148, 149, 150

Psalm 148

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
   praise him in the heights! 
Praise him, all his angels;
   praise him, all his host! 


Praise him, sun and moon;
   praise him, all you shining stars! 
Praise him, you highest heavens,
   and you waters above the heavens! 


Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for he commanded and they were created. 
He established them for ever and ever;
   he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.* 


Praise the Lord from the earth,
   you sea monsters and all deeps, 
fire and hail, snow and frost,
   stormy wind fulfilling his command! 


Mountains and all hills,
   fruit trees and all cedars! 
Wild animals and all cattle,
   creeping things and flying birds! 


Kings of the earth and all peoples,
   princes and all rulers of the earth! 
Young men and women alike,
   old and young together! 


Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for his name alone is exalted;
   his glory is above earth and heaven. 
He has raised up a horn for his people,
   praise for all his faithful,
   for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!


Psalm 149

Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
   his praise in the assembly of the faithful. 
Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
   let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. 
Let them praise his name with dancing,
   making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. 
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
   he adorns the humble with victory. 
Let the faithful exult in glory;
   let them sing for joy on their couches. 
Let the high praises of God be in their throats
   and two-edged swords in their hands, 
to execute vengeance on the nations
   and punishment on the peoples, 
to bind their kings with fetters
   and their nobles with chains of iron, 
to execute on them the judgement decreed.
   This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!


Psalm 150

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
   praise him in his mighty firmament!* 
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
   praise him according to his surpassing greatness! 


Praise him with trumpet sound;
   praise him with lute and harp! 
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
   praise him with strings and pipe! 
Praise him with clanging cymbals;
   praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 114, 115

Psalm 114

When Israel went out from Egypt,
   the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 
Judah became God’s* sanctuary,
   Israel his dominion. 


The sea looked and fled;
   Jordan turned back. 
The mountains skipped like rams,
   the hills like lambs. 


Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
   O Jordan, that you turn back? 
O mountains, that you skip like rams?
   O hills, like lambs? 


Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
   at the presence of the God of Jacob, 
who turns the rock into a pool of water,
   the flint into a spring of water.


Psalm 115

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
   for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. 
Why should the nations say,
   ‘Where is their God?’ 


Our God is in the heavens;
   he does whatever he pleases. 
Their idols are silver and gold,
   the work of human hands. 
They have mouths, but do not speak;
   eyes, but do not see. 
They have ears, but do not hear;
   noses, but do not smell. 
They have hands, but do not feel;
   feet, but do not walk;
   they make no sound in their throats. 
Those who make them are like them;
   so are all who trust in them. 


O Israel, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield. 
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield. 
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield. 


The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
   he will bless the house of Israel;
   he will bless the house of Aaron; 
he will bless those who fear the Lord,
   both small and great. 


May the Lord give you increase,
   both you and your children. 
May you be blessed by the Lord,
   who made heaven and earth. 


The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
   but the earth he has given to human beings. 
The dead do not praise the Lord,
   nor do any that go down into silence. 
But we will bless the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!
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