Thursday 20 April 2017 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Thursday 20 April 2017 
DAILY LECTIONARY

Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org
************************************************************************
Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath* to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath* in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’

 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath:* Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath,* and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

 Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’
************************************************************************
Acts 3:11-26

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished. When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites,* why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant* Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus* has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

 ‘And now, friends,* I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah* would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah* appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets. Moses said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people* a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out from the people.” And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days. You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, “And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” When God raised up his servant,* he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.’
************************************************************************
John 15:12-27

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants* any longer, because the servant* does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
 ‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world,* the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “Servants* are not greater than their master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. It was to fulfil the word that is written in their law, “They hated me without a cause.”

 ‘When the Advocate* comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
************************************************************************
Morning Psalms: Psalm 146, 147

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul! 
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
   I will sing praises to my God all my life long. 


Do not put your trust in princes,
   in mortals, in whom there is no help. 
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
   on that very day their plans perish. 


Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
   whose hope is in the Lord their God, 
who made heaven and earth,
   the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith for ever; 
   who executes justice for the oppressed;
   who gives food to the hungry. 


The Lord sets the prisoners free; 
   the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
   the Lord loves the righteous. 
The Lord watches over the strangers;
   he upholds the orphan and the widow,
   but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 


The Lord will reign for ever,
   your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!


Psalm 147

Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
   for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. 
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
   he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 
He heals the broken-hearted,
   and binds up their wounds. 
He determines the number of the stars;
   he gives to all of them their names. 
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
   his understanding is beyond measure. 
The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
   he casts the wicked to the ground. 


Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
   make melody to our God on the lyre. 
He covers the heavens with clouds,
   prepares rain for the earth,
   makes grass grow on the hills. 
He gives to the animals their food,
   and to the young ravens when they cry. 
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
   nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;* 
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
   in those who hope in his steadfast love. 


Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
   Praise your God, O Zion! 
For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
   he blesses your children within you. 
He grants peace* within your borders;
   he fills you with the finest of wheat. 
He sends out his command to the earth;
   his word runs swiftly. 
He gives snow like wool;
   he scatters frost like ashes. 
He hurls down hail like crumbs—
   who can stand before his cold? 
He sends out his word, and melts them;
   he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 
He declares his word to Jacob,
   his statutes and ordinances to Israel. 
He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
   they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!
************************************************************************
Evening Psalms: Psalm 148, 149

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!
************************************************************************