Friday 13 August 2021 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Friday 13 August 2021
DAILY LECTIONARY

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2 Samuel 15:19-37

Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, ‘Why are you also coming
with us? Go back, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and
also an exile from your home. You came only yesterday, and shall I
today make you wander about with us, while I go wherever I can? Go
back, and take your kinsfolk with you; and may the Lord show*
steadfast love and faithfulness to you.’ But Ittai answered the
king, ‘As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my
lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your
servant will be.’ David said to Ittai, ‘Go then, march on.’ So
Ittai the Gittite marched on, with all his men and all the little ones
who were with him. The whole country wept aloud as all the people
passed by; the king crossed the Wadi Kidron, and all the people moved
on towards the wilderness.

 Abiathar came up, and Zadok also, with all the Levites, carrying the
ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, until the
people had all passed out of the city. Then the king said to Zadok,
‘Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favour in the
eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see both it and the
place where it remains. But if he says, “I take no pleasure in
you”, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him.’ The
king also said to the priest Zadok, ‘Look,* go back to the city in
peace, you and Abiathar,* with your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and
Jonathan son of Abiathar. See, I will wait at the fords of the
wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.’ So Zadok and
Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained
there.

 But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he
went, with his head covered and walking barefoot; and all the people
who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they
went. David was told that Ahithophel was among the conspirators with
Absalom. And David said, ‘O Lord, I pray you, turn the counsel of
Ahithophel into foolishness.’

 When David came to the summit, where God was worshipped, Hushai the
Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and earth on his head.
David said to him, ‘If you go on with me, you will be a burden to
me. But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, “I will be
your servant, O king; as I have been your father’s servant in time
past, so now I will be your servant”, then you will defeat for me
the counsel of Ahithophel. The priests Zadok and Abiathar will be with
you there. So whatever you hear from the king’s house, tell it to
the priests Zadok and Abiathar. Their two sons are with them there,
Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan; and by them you
shall report to me everything you hear.’ So Hushai, David’s
friend, came into the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.
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Acts 21:37-22:16

Just as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the
tribune, ‘May I say something to you?’ The tribune* replied, ‘Do
you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who recently stirred up
a revolt and led the four thousand assassins out into the
wilderness?’ Paul replied, ‘I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a
citizen of an important city; I beg you, let me speak to the
people.’ When he had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps
and motioned to the people for silence; and when there was a great
hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew* language, saying:

‘Brothers and fathers, listen to the defence that I now make before
you.’

 When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew,* they became even
more quiet. Then he said:

 ‘I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this
city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our
ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I
persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and
women and putting them in prison, as the high priest and the whole
council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received
letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind
those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for
punishment.

 ‘While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a
great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. I fell to the ground
and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting
me?” I answered, “Who are you, Lord?” Then he said to me, “I
am Jesus of Nazareth* whom you are persecuting.” Now those who were
with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was
speaking to me. I asked, “What am I to do, Lord?” The Lord said to
me, “Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything
that has been assigned to you to do.” Since I could not see because
of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand
and led me to Damascus.

 ‘A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and
well spoken of by all the Jews living there, came to me; and standing
beside me, he said, “Brother Saul, regain your sight!” In that
very hour I regained my sight and saw him. Then he said, “The God of
our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous
One and to hear his own voice; for you will be his witness to all the
world of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay? Get
up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his
name.”
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Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were
leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was
sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on
me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even
more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still
and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying
to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off
his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him,
‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him,
‘My teacher,* let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your
faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and
followed him on the way.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 102

Psalm 102

Hear my prayer, O Lord;
   let my cry come to you. 
Do not hide your face from me
   on the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
   answer me speedily on the day when I call. 

For my days pass away like smoke,
   and my bones burn like a furnace. 
My heart is stricken and withered like grass;
   I am too wasted to eat my bread. 
Because of my loud groaning
   my bones cling to my skin. 
I am like an owl of the wilderness,
   like a little owl of the waste places. 
I lie awake;
   I am like a lonely bird on the housetop. 
All day long my enemies taunt me;
   those who deride me use my name for a curse. 
For I eat ashes like bread,
   and mingle tears with my drink, 
because of your indignation and anger;
   for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside. 
My days are like an evening shadow;
   I wither away like grass. 

But you, O Lord, are enthroned for ever;
   your name endures to all generations. 
You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
   for it is time to favour it;
   the appointed time has come. 
For your servants hold its stones dear,
   and have pity on its dust. 
The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
   and all the kings of the earth your glory. 
For the Lord will build up Zion;
   he will appear in his glory. 
He will regard the prayer of the destitute,
   and will not despise their prayer. 

Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
   so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord: 
that he looked down from his holy height,
   from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, 
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
   to set free those who were doomed to die; 
so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion,
   and his praise in Jerusalem, 
when peoples gather together,
   and kingdoms, to worship the Lord. 

He has broken my strength in mid-course;
   he has shortened my days. 
‘O my God,’ I say, ‘do not take me away
   at the mid-point of my life,
you whose years endure
   throughout all generations.’ 

Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
   and the heavens are the work of your hands. 
They will perish, but you endure;
   they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away; 
   but you are the same, and your years have no end. 
The children of your servants shall live secure;
   their offspring shall be established in your presence.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 107:1-32

Psalm 107:1-32

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
   for his steadfast love endures for ever. 
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
   those he redeemed from trouble 
and gathered in from the lands,
   from the east and from the west,
   from the north and from the south.* 

Some wandered in desert wastes,
   finding no way to an inhabited town; 
hungry and thirsty,
   their soul fainted within them. 
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
   and he delivered them from their distress; 
he led them by a straight way,
   until they reached an inhabited town. 
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
   for his wonderful works to humankind. 
For he satisfies the thirsty,
   and the hungry he fills with good things. 

Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
   prisoners in misery and in irons, 
for they had rebelled against the words of God,
   and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 
Their hearts were bowed down with hard labour;
   they fell down, with no one to help. 
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
   and he saved them from their distress; 
he brought them out of darkness and gloom,
   and broke their bonds asunder. 
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
   for his wonderful works to humankind. 
For he shatters the doors of bronze,
   and cuts in two the bars of iron. 

Some were sick* through their sinful ways,
   and because of their iniquities endured affliction; 
they loathed any kind of food,
   and they drew near to the gates of death. 
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
   and he saved them from their distress; 
he sent out his word and healed them,
   and delivered them from destruction. 
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
   for his wonderful works to humankind. 
And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
   and tell of his deeds with songs of joy. 

Some went down to the sea in ships,
   doing business on the mighty waters; 
they saw the deeds of the Lord,
   his wondrous works in the deep. 
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
   which lifted up the waves of the sea. 
They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;
   their courage melted away in their calamity; 
they reeled and staggered like drunkards,
   and were at their wits’ end. 
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
   and he brought them out from their distress; 
he made the storm be still,
   and the waves of the sea were hushed. 
Then they were glad because they had quiet,
   and he brought them to their desired haven. 
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
   for his wonderful works to humankind. 
Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
   and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
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