Tuesday 5 January 2016 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Tuesday 5 January 2016
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Jonah 2:2-9

saying,
‘I called to the Lord out of my distress,
   and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
   and you heard my voice. 
You cast me into the deep,
   into the heart of the seas,
   and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
   passed over me. 
Then I said, “I am driven away
   from your sight;
how* shall I look again
   upon your holy temple?” 
The waters closed in over me;
   the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped around my head 
   at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
   whose bars closed upon me for ever;
yet you brought up my life from the Pit,
   O Lord my God. 
As my life was ebbing away,
   I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to you,
   into your holy temple. 
Those who worship vain idols
   forsake their true loyalty. 
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
   will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
   Deliverance belongs to the Lord!’
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Ephesians 6:10-20

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our* struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these,* take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,* for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.
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John 11:17-27,38-44
 
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus* had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles* away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.* Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,* the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’
 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 2, 110:1-7

Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire,
   and the peoples plot in vain? 
The kings of the earth set themselves,
   and the rulers take counsel together,
   against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 
‘Let us burst their bonds asunder,
   and cast their cords from us.’ 


He who sits in the heavens laughs;
   the Lord has them in derision. 
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
   and terrify them in his fury, saying, 
‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’ 


I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, ‘You are my son;
   today I have begotten you. 
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
   and the ends of the earth your possession. 
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
   and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ 


Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
   be warned, O rulers of the earth. 
Serve the Lord with fear,
   with trembling kiss his feet,*
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
   for his wrath is quickly kindled. 


Happy are all who take refuge in him.


Psalm 110:1-7

The Lord says to my lord,
   ‘Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.’ 


The Lord sends out from Zion
   your mighty sceptre.
   Rule in the midst of your foes. 
Your people will offer themselves willingly
   on the day you lead your forces
   on the holy mountains.*
From the womb of the morning,
   like dew, your youth* will come to you. 
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,
   ‘You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.’* 


The Lord is at your right hand;
   he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 
He will execute judgement among the nations,
   filling them with corpses;
he will shatter heads
   over the wide earth. 
He will drink from the stream by the path;
   therefore he will lift up his head.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 29, 98 (EVE OF EPIPHANY)

Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,*
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
   worship the Lord in holy splendour. 


The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters. 
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 


The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
   the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
   and Sirion like a young wild ox. 


The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
   the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 


The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,*
   and strips the forest bare;
   and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’ 


The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
   the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever. 
May the Lord give strength to his people!
   May the Lord bless his people with peace!


Psalm 98

O sing to the Lord a new song,
   for he has done marvellous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
   have gained him victory. 
The Lord has made known his victory;
   he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. 
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
   to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
   the victory of our God. 


Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
   break forth into joyous song and sing praises. 
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
   with the lyre and the sound of melody. 
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
   make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord. 


Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
   the world and those who live in it. 
Let the floods clap their hands;
   let the hills sing together for joy 
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
   to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with equity.
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Isaiah 66:18-23

For I know* their works and their thoughts, and I am* coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put,* and Lud—which draw the bow—to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring a grain-offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites, says the Lord. 


For as the new heavens and the new earth,
   which I will make,
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
   so shall your descendants and your name remain. 
From new moon to new moon,
   and from sabbath to sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
says the Lord.


Romans 15:7-13

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
‘Therefore I will confess* you among the Gentiles,
   and sing praises to your name’; 
and again he says,
‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’; 
and again,
‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
   and let all the peoples praise him’; 
and again Isaiah says,
‘The root of Jesse shall come,
   the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope.’ 
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
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