Saturday 18 March 2017 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Saturday 18 March 2017 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Jeremiah 5:20-31

Declare this in the house of Jacob,
   proclaim it in Judah: 
Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
   who have eyes, but do not see,
   who have ears, but do not hear. 
Do you not fear me? says the Lord;
   Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
   a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail,
   though they roar, they cannot pass over it. 
But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
   they have turned aside and gone away. 
They do not say in their hearts,
   ‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
who gives the rain in its season,
   the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
   the weeks appointed for the harvest.’ 
Your iniquities have turned these away,
   and your sins have deprived you of good. 
For scoundrels are found among my people;
   they take over the goods of others.
Like fowlers they set a trap;*
   they catch human beings. 
Like a cage full of birds,
   their houses are full of treachery;
therefore they have become great and rich, 
   they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no limits in deeds of wickedness;
   they do not judge with justice
the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper,
   and they do not defend the rights of the needy. 
Shall I not punish them for these things?

says the Lord,
   and shall I not bring retribution
   on a nation such as this? 


An appalling and horrible thing
   has happened in the land: 
the prophets prophesy falsely,
   and the priests rule as the prophets direct;*
my people love to have it so,
   but what will you do when the end comes?
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Romans 3:19-31

Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

 But now, irrespective of law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ* for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement* by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.*

 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
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John 7:1-13

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish* to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths* was near. So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants* to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ (For not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not* going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.’ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
 But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were* in secret. The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, ‘He is a good man’, others were saying, ‘No, he is deceiving the crowd.’ Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 75, 76

Psalm 75

We give thanks to you, O God;
   we give thanks; your name is near.
People tell of your wondrous deeds. 


At the set time that I appoint
   I will judge with equity. 
When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants,
   it is I who keep its pillars steady.
          Selah 
I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast’,
   and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn; 
do not lift up your horn on high,
   or speak with insolent neck.’ 


For not from the east or from the west
   and not from the wilderness comes lifting up; 
but it is God who executes judgement,
   putting down one and lifting up another. 
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
   with foaming wine, well mixed;
he will pour a draught from it,
   and all the wicked of the earth
   shall drain it down to the dregs. 
But I will rejoice* for ever;
   I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 


All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
   but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.


Psalm 76

In Judah God is known,
   his name is great in Israel. 
His abode has been established in Salem,
   his dwelling-place in Zion. 
There he broke the flashing arrows,
   the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.
          Selah 


Glorious are you, more majestic
   than the everlasting mountains.* 
The stout-hearted were stripped of their spoil;
   they sank into sleep;
none of the troops
   was able to lift a hand. 
At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
   both rider and horse lay stunned. 


But you indeed are awesome!
   Who can stand before you
   when once your anger is roused? 
From the heavens you uttered judgement;
   the earth feared and was still 
when God rose up to establish judgement,
   to save all the oppressed of the earth.
          Selah 


Human wrath serves only to praise you,
   when you bind the last bit of your* wrath around you. 
Make vows to the Lord your God, and perform them;
   let all who are around him bring gifts
   to the one who is awesome, 
who cuts off the spirit of princes,
   who inspires fear in the kings of the earth.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 23, 27

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 
   He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;* 
   he restores my soul.*
He leads me in right paths*
   for his name’s sake. 


Even though I walk through the darkest valley,*
   I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
   your rod and your staff—
   they comfort me. 


You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows. 
Surely* goodness and mercy* shall follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
   my whole life long.


Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
   whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold* of my life;
   of whom shall I be afraid? 


When evildoers assail me
   to devour my flesh—
my adversaries and foes—
   they shall stumble and fall. 


Though an army encamp against me,
   my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
   yet I will be confident. 


One thing I asked of the Lord,
   that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the Lord
   all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
   and to inquire in his temple. 


For he will hide me in his shelter
   in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
   he will set me high on a rock. 


Now my head is lifted up
   above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
   sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord. 


Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
   be gracious to me and answer me! 
‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his face!’
   Your face, Lord, do I seek. 
   Do not hide your face from me. 


Do not turn your servant away in anger,
   you who have been my help.
Do not cast me off, do not forsake me,
   O God of my salvation! 
If my father and mother forsake me,
   the Lord will take me up. 


Teach me your way, O Lord,
   and lead me on a level path
   because of my enemies. 
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
   for false witnesses have risen against me,
   and they are breathing out violence. 


I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
   in the land of the living. 
Wait for the Lord;
   be strong, and let your heart take courage;
   wait for the Lord!
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