Sunday 22 August 2021 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Sunday 22 August 2021 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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2 Samuel 24:1-2,10-25

Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited
David against them, saying, ‘Go, count the people of Israel and
Judah.’ So the king said to Joab and the commanders of the army,*
who were with him, ‘Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to
Beer-sheba, and take a census of the people, so that I may know how
many there are.’

 But afterwards, David was stricken to the heart because he had
numbered the people. David said to the Lord, ‘I have sinned greatly
in what I have done. But now, O Lord, I pray you, take away the guilt
of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.’ When David rose in
the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s
seer, saying, ‘Go and say to David: Thus says the Lord: Three things
I offer* you; choose one of them, and I will do it to you.’ So Gad
came to David and told him; he asked him, ‘Shall three* years of
famine come to you on your land? Or will you flee for three months
before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three
days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer
I shall return to the one who sent me.’ Then David said to Gad, ‘I
am in great distress; let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his
mercy is great; but let me not fall into human hands.’

 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from that morning until the
appointed time; and seventy thousand of the people died, from Dan to
Beer-sheba. But when the angel stretched out his hand towards
Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented concerning the evil, and
said to the angel who was bringing destruction among the people, ‘It
is enough; now stay your hand.’ The angel of the Lord was then by
the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel
who was destroying the people, he said to the Lord, ‘I alone have
sinned, and I alone have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have
they done? Let your hand, I pray, be against me and against my
father’s house.’

 That day Gad came to David and said to him, ‘Go up and erect an
altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.’
Following Gad’s instructions, David went up, as the Lord had
commanded. When Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants
coming towards him; and Araunah went out and prostrated himself before
the king with his face to the ground. Araunah said, ‘Why has my lord
the king come to his servant?’ David said, ‘To buy the
threshing-floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord, so
that the plague may be averted from the people.’ Then Araunah said
to David, ‘Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to
him; here are the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the
threshing-sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. All this, O
king, Araunah gives to the king.’ And Araunah said to the king,
‘May the Lord your God respond favourably to you.’

 But the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will buy them from you
for a price; I will not offer burnt-offerings to the Lord my God that
cost me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen
for fifty shekels of silver. David built there an altar to the Lord,
and offered burnt-offerings and offerings of well-being. So the Lord
answered his supplication for the land, and the plague was averted
from Israel.
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Galatians 3:23-4:7

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law
until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our
disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by
faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a
disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God
through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there
is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for
all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then
you are Abraham’s offspring,* heirs according to the promise.

My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better
than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; but they
remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father.
So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental
spirits* of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God
sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem
those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as
children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his
Son into our* hearts, crying, ‘Abba!* Father!’ So you are no
longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through
God.*
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John 8:12-20

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light
of life.’ Then the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are testifying on
your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.’ Jesus answered,
‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I
know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know
where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards;*
I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgement is valid; for it
is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father* who sent me. In your
law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I
testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my
behalf.’ Then they said to him, ‘Where is your Father?’ Jesus
answered, ‘You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you
would know my Father also.’ He spoke these words while he was
teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him,
because his hour had not yet come.
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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!
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 111, 112, 113

Psalm 111

Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
   in the company of the upright, in the congregation. 
Great are the works of the Lord,
   studied by all who delight in them. 
Full of honour and majesty is his work,
   and his righteousness endures for ever. 
He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;
   the Lord is gracious and merciful. 
He provides food for those who fear him;
   he is ever mindful of his covenant. 
He has shown his people the power of his works,
   in giving them the heritage of the nations. 
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
   all his precepts are trustworthy. 
They are established for ever and ever,
   to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. 
He sent redemption to his people;
   he has commanded his covenant for ever.
   Holy and awesome is his name. 
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
   all those who practise it* have a good understanding.
   His praise endures for ever.

Psalm 112

Praise the Lord!
   Happy are those who fear the Lord,
   who greatly delight in his commandments. 
Their descendants will be mighty in the land;
   the generation of the upright will be blessed. 
Wealth and riches are in their houses,
   and their righteousness endures for ever. 
They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright;
   they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. 
It is well with those who deal generously and lend,
   who conduct their affairs with justice. 
For the righteous will never be moved;
   they will be remembered for ever. 
They are not afraid of evil tidings;
   their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. 
Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid;
   in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. 
They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor;
   their righteousness endures for ever;
   their horn is exalted in honour. 
The wicked see it and are angry;
   they gnash their teeth and melt away;
   the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

Psalm 113

Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord;
   praise the name of the Lord. 

Blessed be the name of the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore. 
From the rising of the sun to its setting
   the name of the Lord is to be praised. 
The Lord is high above all nations,
   and his glory above the heavens. 

Who is like the Lord our God,
   who is seated on high, 
who looks far down
   on the heavens and the earth? 
He raises the poor from the dust,
   and lifts the needy from the ash heap, 
to make them sit with princes,
   with the princes of his people. 
He gives the barren woman a home,
   making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
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