Monday 30 August 2021 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 30 August 2021
DAILY LECTIONARY

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2 Chronicles 6:32-7:7

‘Likewise when foreigners, who are not of your people Israel, come
from a distant land because of your great name, and your mighty hand,
and your outstretched arm, when they come and pray towards this house,
may you hear from heaven your dwelling-place, and do whatever the
foreigners ask of you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may
know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they
may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have
built.

 ‘If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by
whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you towards this
city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your
name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain
their cause.

 ‘If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not
sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that
they are carried away captive to a land far or near; then if they come
to their senses in the land to which they have been taken captive, and
repent, and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying,
“We have sinned, and have done wrong; we have acted wickedly”; if
they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their
captivity, to which they were taken captive, and pray towards their
land, which you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have
chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, then hear from
heaven your dwelling-place their prayer and their pleas, maintain
their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. Now,
O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to prayer from
this place. 
‘Now rise up, O Lord God, and go to your resting-place,
   you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
   and let your faithful rejoice in your goodness. 
O Lord God, do not reject your anointed one.
   Remember your steadfast love for your servant David.’
When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and
consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the
Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the house of the
Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When
all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the
Lord on the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces
to the ground, and worshipped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,
‘For he is good,
   for his steadfast love endures for ever.’

 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord.
King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and one
hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people
dedicated the house of God. The priests stood at their posts; the
Levites also, with the instruments for music to the Lord that King
David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—for his steadfast love
endures for ever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry.
Opposite them the priests sounded trumpets; and all Israel stood.

 Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the
house of the Lord; for there he offered the burnt-offerings and the
fat of the offerings of well-being because the bronze altar Solomon
had made could not hold the burnt-offering and the grain-offering and
the fat parts.
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James 2:1-13

My brothers and sisters,* do you with your acts of favouritism really
believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?* For if a person with gold
rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor
person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the
one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Have a seat here, please’,
while to the one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there’, or, ‘Sit at
my feet’,* have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and
become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and
sisters.* Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith
and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love
him? But you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress
you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who
blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

 You do well if you really fulfil the royal law according to the
scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ But if you
show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as
transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point
has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, ‘You
shall not commit adultery’, also said, ‘You shall not murder.’
Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a
transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be
judged by the law of liberty. For judgement will be without mercy to
anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement.
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Mark 14:53-65
 
They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the
elders, and the scribes were assembled. Peter had followed him at a
distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was
sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. Now the chief
priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus
to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false
testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood
up and gave false testimony against him, saying, ‘We heard him say,
“I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three
days I will build another, not made with hands.” ’ But even on
this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood
up before them and asked Jesus, ‘Have you no answer? What is it that
they testify against you?’ But he was silent and did not answer.
Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah,* the Son of
the Blessed One?’ Jesus said, ‘I am; and
“you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power”,
and “coming with the clouds of heaven.” ’ 
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘Why do we still
need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your
decision?’ All of them condemned him as deserving death. Some began
to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him,
‘Prophesy!’ The guards also took him over and beat him.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 25

Psalm 25

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 
O my God, in you I trust;
   do not let me be put to shame;
   do not let my enemies exult over me. 
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
   let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
   teach me your paths. 
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all day long. 

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
   for they have been from of old. 
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
   according to your steadfast love remember me,
   for your goodness’ sake, O Lord! 

Good and upright is the Lord;
   therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 
He leads the humble in what is right,
   and teaches the humble his way. 
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
   for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. 

For your name’s sake, O Lord,
   pardon my guilt, for it is great. 
Who are they that fear the Lord?
   He will teach them the way that they should choose. 

They will abide in prosperity,
   and their children shall possess the land. 
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
   and he makes his covenant known to them. 
My eyes are ever towards the Lord,
   for he will pluck my feet out of the net. 

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
   for I am lonely and afflicted. 
Relieve the troubles of my heart,
   and bring me* out of my distress. 
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
   and forgive all my sins. 

Consider how many are my foes,
   and with what violent hatred they hate me. 
O guard my life, and deliver me;
   do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
   for I wait for you. 

Redeem Israel, O God,
   out of all its troubles.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 9, 15

Psalm 9

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
   I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. 
I will be glad and exult in you;
   I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 

When my enemies turned back,
   they stumbled and perished before you. 
For you have maintained my just cause;
   you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgement. 

You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
   you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. 
The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
   their cities you have rooted out;
   the very memory of them has perished. 

But the Lord sits enthroned for ever,
   he has established his throne for judgement. 
He judges the world with righteousness;
   he judges the peoples with equity. 

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
   a stronghold in times of trouble. 
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
   for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. 

Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.
   Declare his deeds among the peoples. 
For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
   he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 

Be gracious to me, O Lord.
   See what I suffer from those who hate me;
   you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death, 
so that I may recount all your praises,
   and, in the gates of daughter Zion,
   rejoice in your deliverance. 

The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
   in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught. 
The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgement;
   the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.
          Higgaion. Selah

The wicked shall depart to Sheol,
   all the nations that forget God. 

For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
   nor the hope of the poor perish for ever. 

Rise up, O Lord! Do not let mortals prevail;
   let the nations be judged before you. 
Put them in fear, O Lord;
   let the nations know that they are only human.
          Selah

Psalm 15

O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
   Who may dwell on your holy hill? 

Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
   and speak the truth from their heart; 
who do not slander with their tongue,
   and do no evil to their friends,
   nor take up a reproach against their neighbours; 
in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
   but who honour those who fear the Lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt; 
who do not lend money at interest,
   and do not take a bribe against the innocent. 

Those who do these things shall never be moved.
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