Tuesday 7 December 2021 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Tuesday 7 December 2021 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Amos 7:10-17

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel,
saying, ‘Amos has conspired against you in the very centre of the
house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus
Amos has said,
“Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
   and Israel must go into exile
   away from his land.” ’ 
And Amaziah said to Amos, ‘O seer, go, flee away to the land of
Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again
prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a
temple of the kingdom.’

 Then Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I am* no prophet, nor a prophet’s
son; but I am* a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore trees, and the
Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, “Go,
prophesy to my people Israel.” 
‘Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
You say, “Do not prophesy against Israel,
   and do not preach against the house of Isaac.” 
Therefore, thus says the Lord:
“Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city,
   and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
   and your land shall be parcelled out by line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
   and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.” ’
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Revelation 1:9-16

I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and
the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos
because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.* I was in the
spirit* on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a
trumpet saying, ‘Write in a book what you see and send it to the
seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to
Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.’

 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on
turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the
lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and
with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white
as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his
feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his
voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he held
seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his
face was like the sun shining with full force.
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Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to
test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’
He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the
greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall
love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets.’
 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them
this question: ‘What do you think of the Messiah?* Whose son is
he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ He said to them,
‘How is it then that David by the Spirit* calls him Lord, saying, 
“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
   until I put your enemies under your feet’ ”? 
If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?’ No one was
able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask
him any more questions.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 26, 28

Psalm 26

Vindicate me, O Lord,
   for I have walked in my integrity,
   and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. 
Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
   test my heart and mind. 
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
   and I walk in faithfulness to you.* 

I do not sit with the worthless,
   nor do I consort with hypocrites; 
I hate the company of evildoers,
   and will not sit with the wicked. 

I wash my hands in innocence,
   and go around your altar, O Lord, 
singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
   and telling all your wondrous deeds. 

O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,
   and the place where your glory abides. 
Do not sweep me away with sinners,
   nor my life with the bloodthirsty, 
those in whose hands are evil devices,
   and whose right hands are full of bribes. 

But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
   redeem me, and be gracious to me. 
My foot stands on level ground;
   in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.

Psalm 28

To you, O Lord, I call;
   my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
   I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 
Hear the voice of my supplication,
   as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
   towards your most holy sanctuary.* 

Do not drag me away with the wicked,
   with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbours,
   while mischief is in their hearts. 
Repay them according to their work,
   and according to the evil of their deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
   render them their due reward. 
Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
   or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more. 

Blessed be the Lord,
   for he has heard the sound of my pleadings. 
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
   in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
   and with my song I give thanks to him. 

The Lord is the strength of his people;
   he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 
O save your people, and bless your heritage;
   be their shepherd, and carry them for ever.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 36, 39

Psalm 36

Transgression speaks to the wicked
   deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
   before their eyes. 
For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
   that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 
The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
   they have ceased to act wisely and do good. 
They plot mischief while on their beds;
   they are set on a way that is not good;
   they do not reject evil. 

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
   your faithfulness to the clouds. 
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
   your judgements are like the great deep;
   you save humans and animals alike, O Lord. 

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
   All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 
They feast on the abundance of your house,
   and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 
For with you is the fountain of life;
   in your light we see light. 

O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
   and your salvation to the upright of heart! 
Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
   or the hand of the wicked drive me away. 
There the evildoers lie prostrate;
   they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Psalm 39

I said, ‘I will guard my ways
   that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
   as long as the wicked are in my presence.’ 
I was silent and still;
   I held my peace to no avail;
my distress grew worse, 
   my heart became hot within me.
While I mused, the fire burned;
   then I spoke with my tongue: 

‘Lord, let me know my end,
   and what is the measure of my days;
   let me know how fleeting my life is. 
You have made my days a few handbreadths,
   and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight.
Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. 
          Selah 
   Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
   they heap up, and do not know who will gather. 

‘And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
   My hope is in you. 
Deliver me from all my transgressions.
   Do not make me the scorn of the fool. 
I am silent; I do not open my mouth,
   for it is you who have done it. 
Remove your stroke from me;
   I am worn down by the blows* of your hand. 

‘You chastise mortals
   in punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is dear to them;
   surely everyone is a mere breath. 
          Selah

‘Hear my prayer, O Lord,
   and give ear to my cry;
   do not hold your peace at my tears.
For I am your passing guest,
   an alien, like all my forebears. 
Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again,
   before I depart and am no more.’
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