Friday 23 January 2015 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Friday 23 January 2015  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Isaiah 45:18-25

For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
   (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
   (he established it;
he did not create it a chaos,
   he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other. 
I did not speak in secret,
   in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
   ‘Seek me in chaos.’
I the Lord speak the truth,
   I declare what is right. 


Assemble yourselves and come together,
   draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
   those who carry about their wooden idols,
and keep on praying to a god
   that cannot save. 
Declare and present your case;
   let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
   Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
   There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Saviour;
   there is no one besides me. 


Turn to me and be saved,
   all the ends of the earth!
   For I am God, and there is no other. 
By myself I have sworn,
   from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
   a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
   every tongue shall swear.’ 


Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
   are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
   shall come to him and be ashamed. 
In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
   shall triumph and glory. ******************************************************************
Ephesians 6:1-9

Children, obey your parents in the Lord,* for this is right. ‘Honour your father and mother’—this is the first commandment with a promise: ‘so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’

 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ; not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women, knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free.

 And, masters, do the same to them. Stop threatening them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and with him there is no partiality. ******************************************************************
Mark 4:35-41
 
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 31

Psalm 31

In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
   do not let me ever be put to shame;
   in your righteousness deliver me. 
Incline your ear to me;
   rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
   a strong fortress to save me. 


You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
   for you are my refuge. 
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
   you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. 


You hate* those who pay regard to worthless idols,
   but I trust in the Lord. 
I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
   because you have seen my affliction;
   you have taken heed of my adversities, 
and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
   you have set my feet in a broad place. 


Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
   my eye wastes away from grief,
   my soul and body also. 
For my life is spent with sorrow,
   and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,*
   and my bones waste away. 


I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
   a horror* to my neighbours,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
   those who see me in the street flee from me. 
I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
   I have become like a broken vessel. 
For I hear the whispering of many—
   terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
   as they plot to take my life. 


But I trust in you, O Lord;
   I say, ‘You are my God.’ 
My times are in your hand;
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. 
Let your face shine upon your servant;
   save me in your steadfast love. 
Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
   for I call on you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
   let them go dumbfounded to Sheol. 
Let the lying lips be stilled
   that speak insolently against the righteous
   with pride and contempt. 


O how abundant is your goodness
   that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
   in the sight of everyone! 
In the shelter of your presence you hide them
   from human plots;
you hold them safe under your shelter
   from contentious tongues. 


Blessed be the Lord,
   for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
   when I was beset as a city under siege. 
I had said in my alarm,
   ‘I am driven far* from your sight.’
But you heard my supplications
   when I cried out to you for help. 


Love the Lord, all you his saints.
   The Lord preserves the faithful,
   but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. 
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
   all you who wait for the Lord.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 35

Psalm 35

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
   fight against those who fight against me! 
Take hold of shield and buckler,
   and rise up to help me! 
Draw the spear and javelin
   against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
   ‘I am your salvation.’ 


Let them be put to shame and dishonour
   who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
   who devise evil against me. 
Let them be like chaff before the wind,
   with the angel of the Lord driving them on. 
Let their way be dark and slippery,
   with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. 


For without cause they hid their net* for me;
   without cause they dug a pit* for my life. 
Let ruin come on them unawares.
And let the net that they hid ensnare them;
   let them fall in it—to their ruin. 


Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
   exulting in his deliverance. 
All my bones shall say,
   ‘O Lord, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
   from those too strong for them,
   the weak and needy from those who despoil them.’ 


Malicious witnesses rise up;
   they ask me about things I do not know. 
They repay me evil for good;
   my soul is forlorn. 
But as for me, when they were sick,
   I wore sackcloth;
   I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowed* on my bosom, 
   as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;
I went about as one who laments for a mother,
   bowed down and in mourning. 


But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,
   they gathered together against me;
ruffians whom I did not know
   tore at me without ceasing; 
they impiously mocked more and more,*
   gnashing at me with their teeth. 


How long, O Lord, will you look on?
   Rescue me from their ravages,
   my life from the lions! 
Then I will thank you in the great congregation;
   in the mighty throng I will praise you. 


Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,
   or those who hate me without cause wink the eye. 
For they do not speak peace,
   but they conceive deceitful words
   against those who are quiet in the land. 
They open wide their mouths against me;
   they say, ‘Aha, Aha,
   our eyes have seen it.’ 


You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent!
   O Lord, do not be far from me! 
Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defence,
   for my cause, my God and my Lord! 
Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
   according to your righteousness,
   and do not let them rejoice over me. 
Do not let them say to themselves,
   ‘Aha, we have our heart’s desire.’
Do not let them say, ‘We have swallowed you* up.’ 


Let all those who rejoice at my calamity
   be put to shame and confusion;
let those who exalt themselves against me
   be clothed with shame and dishonour. 


Let those who desire my vindication
   shout for joy and be glad,
   and say evermore,
‘Great is the Lord,
   who delights in the welfare of his servant.’ 
Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
   and of your praise all day long.
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