Tuesday 14 February 2017 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Tuesday 14 February 2017
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Isaiah 63:7-14

I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
   the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us,
   and the great favour to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
   according to the abundance of his steadfast love. 
For he said, ‘Surely they are my people,
   children who will not deal falsely’;
and he became their saviour 
   in all their distress.
It was no messenger* or angel
   but his presence that saved them;*
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
   he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. 


But they rebelled
   and grieved his holy spirit;
therefore he became their enemy;
   he himself fought against them. 
Then they* remembered the days of old,
   of Moses his servant.*
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea
   with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who put within them
   his holy spirit, 
who caused his glorious arm
   to march at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
   to make for himself an everlasting name, 
   who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
   they did not stumble. 
Like cattle that go down into the valley,
   the spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
Thus you led your people,
   to make for yourself a glorious name.
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1 Timothy 1:18-2:8

I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith; among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For
there is one God;
   there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human, 
   who gave himself a ransom for all
—this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth,* I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

 I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument;
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Mark 11:12-26

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it.
 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
   But you have made it a den of robbers.’ 
And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples* went out of the city.
 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Have* faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received* it, and it will be yours.

 ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 97, 99

Psalm 97

The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
   let the many coastlands be glad! 
Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
   righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 
Fire goes before him,
   and consumes his adversaries on every side. 
His lightnings light up the world;
   the earth sees and trembles. 
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
   before the Lord of all the earth. 


The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
   and all the peoples behold his glory. 
All worshippers of images are put to shame,
   those who make their boast in worthless idols;
   all gods bow down before him. 
Zion hears and is glad,
   and the towns* of Judah rejoice,
   because of your judgements, O God. 
For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
   you are exalted far above all gods. 


The Lord loves those who hate* evil;
   he guards the lives of his faithful;
   he rescues them from the hand of the wicked. 
Light dawns* for the righteous,
   and joy for the upright in heart. 
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
   and give thanks to his holy name!


Psalm 99

The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
   He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 
The Lord is great in Zion;
   he is exalted over all the peoples. 
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
   Holy is he! 
Mighty King,* lover of justice,
   you have established equity;
you have executed justice
   and righteousness in Jacob. 
Extol the Lord our God;
   worship at his footstool.
   Holy is he! 


Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
   Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
   They cried to the Lord, and he answered them. 
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
   they kept his decrees,
   and the statutes that he gave them. 


O Lord our God, you answered them;
   you were a forgiving God to them,
   but an avenger of their wrongdoings. 
Extol the Lord our God,
   and worship at his holy mountain;
   for the Lord our God is holy.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 94

Psalm 94

O Lord, you God of vengeance,
   you God of vengeance, shine forth! 
Rise up, O judge of the earth;
   give to the proud what they deserve! 
O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
   how long shall the wicked exult? 


They pour out their arrogant words;
   all the evildoers boast. 
They crush your people, O Lord,
   and afflict your heritage. 
They kill the widow and the stranger,
   they murder the orphan, 
and they say, ‘The Lord does not see;
   the God of Jacob does not perceive.’ 


Understand, O dullest of the people;
   fools, when will you be wise? 
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see? 
He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
   does he not chastise? 
The Lord knows our thoughts,*
   that they are but an empty breath. 


Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,
   and whom you teach out of your law, 
giving them respite from days of trouble,
   until a pit is dug for the wicked. 
For the Lord will not forsake his people;
   he will not abandon his heritage; 
for justice will return to the righteous,
   and all the upright in heart will follow it. 


Who rises up for me against the wicked?
   Who stands up for me against evildoers? 
If the Lord had not been my help,
   my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. 
When I thought, ‘My foot is slipping’,
   your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. 
When the cares of my heart are many,
   your consolations cheer my soul. 
Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
   those who contrive mischief by statute? 
They band together against the life of the righteous,
   and condemn the innocent to death. 
But the Lord has become my stronghold,
   and my God the rock of my refuge. 
He will repay them for their iniquity
   and wipe them out for their wickedness;
   the Lord our God will wipe them out.
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