Thursday 20 February 2020 DAILY LECTIONARY

[Daily Lectionary]

Thursday 20 February 2020 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 32:3-21

Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, ‘Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have lived with Laban as an alien, and stayed until now; and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favour in your sight.” ’

 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, ‘We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.’ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, thinking, ‘If Esau comes to one company and destroys it, then the company that is left will escape.’

 And Jacob said, ‘O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, “Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good”, I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all, the mothers with the children. Yet you have said, “I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their number.” ’

 So he spent that night there, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. These he delivered into the hand of his servants, each drove by itself, and said to his servants, ‘Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between drove and drove.’ He instructed the foremost, ‘When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, “To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?” then you shall say, “They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.” ’ He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, ‘You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him, and you shall say, “Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.” ’ For he thought, ‘I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me.’ So the present passed on ahead of him; and he himself spent that night in the camp.
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1 John 2:18-29

Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge.* I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?* This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he has promised us,* eternal life.

 I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.*

 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.
 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of him.
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John 10:19-30

Again the Jews were divided because of these words. Many of them were saying, ‘He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?’ Others were saying, ‘These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?’
 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah,* tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.* The Father and I are one.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 105:1-22

Psalm 105:1-22

O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
   make known his deeds among the peoples. 
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
   tell of all his wonderful works. 
Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 
Seek the Lord and his strength;
   seek his presence continually. 
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgements he has uttered, 
O offspring of his servant Abraham,*
   children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 


He is the Lord our God;
   his judgements are in all the earth. 
He is mindful of his covenant for ever,
   of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 
the covenant that he made with Abraham,
   his sworn promise to Isaac, 
which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
   to Israel as an everlasting covenant, 
saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan
   as your portion for an inheritance.’ 


When they were few in number,
   of little account, and strangers in it, 
wandering from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another people, 
he allowed no one to oppress them;
   he rebuked kings on their account, 
saying, ‘Do not touch my anointed ones;
   do my prophets no harm.’ 


When he summoned famine against the land,
   and broke every staff of bread, 
he had sent a man ahead of them,
   Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 
His feet were hurt with fetters,
   his neck was put in a collar of iron; 
until what he had said came to pass,
   the word of the Lord kept testing him. 
The king sent and released him;
   the ruler of the peoples set him free. 
He made him lord of his house,
   and ruler of all his possessions, 
to instruct* his officials at his pleasure,
   and to teach his elders wisdom.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 105:23-45

Psalm 105:23-45

Then Israel came to Egypt;
   Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham. 
And the Lord made his people very fruitful,
   and made them stronger than their foes, 
whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
   to deal craftily with his servants. 


He sent his servant Moses,
   and Aaron whom he had chosen. 
They performed his signs among them,
   and miracles in the land of Ham. 
He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
   they rebelled* against his words. 
He turned their waters into blood,
   and caused their fish to die. 
Their land swarmed with frogs,
   even in the chambers of their kings. 
He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
   and gnats throughout their country. 
He gave them hail for rain,
   and lightning that flashed through their land. 
He struck their vines and fig trees,
   and shattered the trees of their country. 
He spoke, and the locusts came,
   and young locusts without number; 
they devoured all the vegetation in their land,
   and ate up the fruit of their ground. 
He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
   the first issue of all their strength. 


Then he brought Israel* out with silver and gold,
   and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled. 
Egypt was glad when they departed,
   for dread of them had fallen upon it. 
He spread a cloud for a covering,
   and fire to give light by night. 
They asked, and he brought quails,
   and gave them food from heaven in abundance. 
He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
   it flowed through the desert like a river. 
For he remembered his holy promise,
   and Abraham, his servant. 


So he brought his people out with joy,
   his chosen ones with singing. 
He gave them the lands of the nations,
   and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples, 
that they might keep his statutes
   and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!
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