Tuesday 23 February 2016 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Tuesday 23 February 2016  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 42:1-17

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, ‘Why do you keep looking at one another? I have heard’, he said, ‘that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.’ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he feared that harm might come to him. Thus the sons of Israel were among the other people who came to buy grain, for the famine had reached the land of Canaan.

 Now Joseph was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. ‘Where do you come from?’ he said. They said, ‘From the land of Canaan, to buy food.’ Although Joseph had recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Joseph also remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them. He said to them, ‘You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land!’ They said to him, ‘No, my lord; your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man; we are honest men; your servants have never been spies.’ But he said to them, ‘No, you have come to see the nakedness of the land!’ They said, ‘We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of a certain man in the land of Canaan; the youngest, however, is now with our father, and one is no more.’ But Joseph said to them, ‘It is just as I have said to you; you are spies! Here is how you shall be tested: as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here! Let one of you go and bring your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison, in order that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you; or else, as Pharaoh lives, surely you are spies.’ And he put them all together in prison for three days.
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1 Corinthians 5:1-8

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Should you not rather have mourned, so that he who has done this would have been removed from among you?

 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present I have already pronounced judgement in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing.* When you are assembled, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.*

 Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
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Mark 3:19b-35

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. 

 Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.
 He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles,* to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve:* Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’ And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

 ‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’
 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters* are outside, asking for you.’ And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 61, 62

Psalm 61

Hear my cry, O God;
   listen to my prayer. 
From the end of the earth I call to you,
   when my heart is faint. 


Lead me to the rock
   that is higher than I; 
for you are my refuge,
   a strong tower against the enemy. 


Let me abide in your tent for ever,
   find refuge under the shelter of your wings.
          Selah 
For you, O God, have heard my vows;
   you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. 


Prolong the life of the king;
   may his years endure to all generations! 
May he be enthroned for ever before God;
   appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! 


So I will always sing praises to your name,
   as I pay my vows day after day.


Psalm 62

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
   from him comes my salvation. 
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
   my fortress; I shall never be shaken. 


How long will you assail a person,
   will you batter your victim, all of you,
   as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence? 
Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
   They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
   but inwardly they curse.
          Selah 


For God alone my soul waits in silence,
   for my hope is from him. 
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
   my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 
On God rests my deliverance and my honour;
   my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. 


Trust in him at all times, O people;
   pour out your heart before him;
   God is a refuge for us.
          Selah 


Those of low estate are but a breath,
   those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
   they are together lighter than a breath. 
Put no confidence in extortion,
   and set no vain hopes on robbery;
   if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 


Once God has spoken;
   twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God, 
   and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
   according to their work.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 68

Psalm 68

Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered;
   let those who hate him flee before him. 
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
   as wax melts before the fire,
   let the wicked perish before God. 
But let the righteous be joyful;
   let them exult before God;
   let them be jubilant with joy. 


Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
   lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds*—
his name is the Lord—
   be exultant before him. 


Father of orphans and protector of widows
   is God in his holy habitation. 
God gives the desolate a home to live in;
   he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
   but the rebellious live in a parched land. 


O God, when you went out before your people,
   when you marched through the wilderness,
          Selah 
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain
   at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,
   at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 
Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;
   you restored your heritage when it languished; 
your flock found a dwelling in it;
   in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. 


The Lord gives the command;
   great is the company of those* who bore the tidings: 
   ‘The kings of the armies, they flee, they flee!’
The women at home divide the spoil, 
   though they stay among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
   its pinions with green gold. 
When the Almighty* scattered kings there,
   snow fell on Zalmon. 


O mighty mountain, mountain of Bashan;
   O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan! 
Why do you look with envy, O many-peaked mountain,
   at the mount that God desired for his abode,
   where the Lord will reside for ever? 


With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand,
   thousands upon thousands,
   the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.* 
You ascended the high mount,
   leading captives in your train
   and receiving gifts from people,
even from those who rebel against the Lord God’s abiding there. 
Blessed be the Lord,
   who daily bears us up;
   God is our salvation.
          Selah 
Our God is a God of salvation,
   and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death. 


But God will shatter the heads of his enemies,
   the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways. 
The Lord said,
   ‘I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, 
so that you may bathe* your feet in blood,
   so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.’ 


Your solemn processions are seen,* O God,
   the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary— 
the singers in front, the musicians last,
   between them girls playing tambourines: 
‘Bless God in the great congregation,
   the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!’ 
There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
   the princes of Judah in a body,
   the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. 


Summon your might, O God;
   show your strength, O God, as you have done for us before. 
Because of your temple at Jerusalem
   kings bear gifts to you. 
Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds,
   the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample* under foot those who lust after tribute;
   scatter the peoples who delight in war.* 
Let bronze be brought from Egypt;
   let Ethiopia* hasten to stretch out its hands to God. 


Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
   sing praises to the Lord,
          Selah 
O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
   listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. 
Ascribe power to God,
   whose majesty is over Israel;
   and whose power is in the skies. 
Awesome is God in his* sanctuary,
   the God of Israel;
   he gives power and strength to his people. 


Blessed be God!
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