Tuesday 16 November 2021 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Tuesday 16 November 2021
DAILY LECTIONARY

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1 Maccabees 3:25-41

Then Judas and his brothers began to be feared, and terror fell on the
Gentiles all around them. His fame reached the king, and the Gentiles
talked of the battles of Judas.
 When King Antiochus heard these reports, he was greatly angered; and
he sent and gathered all the forces of his kingdom, a very strong
army. He opened his coffers and gave a year’s pay to his forces, and
ordered them to be ready for any need. Then he saw that the money in
the treasury was exhausted, and that the revenues from the country
were small because of the dissension and disaster that he had caused
in the land by abolishing the laws that had existed from the earliest
days. He feared that he might not have such funds as he had before for
his expenses and for the gifts that he used to give more lavishly than
preceding kings. He was greatly perplexed in mind; then he determined
to go to Persia and collect the revenues from those regions and raise
a large fund.

 He left Lysias, a distinguished man of royal lineage, in charge of
the king’s affairs from the river Euphrates to the borders of Egypt.
Lysias was also to take care of his son Antiochus until he returned.
And he turned over to Lysias* half of his forces and the elephants,
and gave him orders about all that he wanted done. As for the
residents of Judea and Jerusalem, Lysias was to send a force against
them to wipe out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of
Jerusalem; he was to banish the memory of them from the place, settle
aliens in all their territory, and distribute their land by lot. Then
the king took the remaining half of his forces and left Antioch his
capital in the one hundred and forty-seventh year.* He crossed the
Euphrates river and went through the upper provinces.
 Lysias chose Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor and Gorgias, able
men among the Friends of the king, and sent with them forty thousand
infantry and seven thousand cavalry to go into the land of Judah and
destroy it, as the king had commanded. So they set out with their
entire force, and when they arrived they encamped near Emmaus in the
plain. When the traders of the region heard what was said to them,
they took silver and gold in immense amounts, and fetters,* and went
to the camp to get the Israelites for slaves. And forces from Syria
and the land of the Philistines joined with them.
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Revelation 21:1-8

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the
holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice
from the throne saying,
‘See, the home* of God is among mortals.
He will dwell* with them;
they will be his peoples,*
and God himself will be with them;* 
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’

 And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making
all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are
trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will
give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who
conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they
will be my children. But as for the cowardly, the faithless,* the
polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the
idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns
with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.’
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Matthew 17:14-21
 
When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and
said, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he
suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the
water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure
him.’ Jesus answered, ‘You faithless and perverse generation, how
much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with
you? Bring him here to me.’ And Jesus rebuked the demon,* and it*
came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples
came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’
He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly I tell
you, if you have faith the size of a* mustard seed, you will say to
this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move; and
nothing will be impossible for you.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 97, 99

Psalm 97

The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
   let the many coastlands be glad! 
Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
   righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 
Fire goes before him,
   and consumes his adversaries on every side. 
His lightnings light up the world;
   the earth sees and trembles. 
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
   before the Lord of all the earth. 

The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
   and all the peoples behold his glory. 
All worshippers of images are put to shame,
   those who make their boast in worthless idols;
   all gods bow down before him. 
Zion hears and is glad,
   and the towns* of Judah rejoice,
   because of your judgements, O God. 
For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
   you are exalted far above all gods. 

The Lord loves those who hate* evil;
   he guards the lives of his faithful;
   he rescues them from the hand of the wicked. 
Light dawns* for the righteous,
   and joy for the upright in heart. 
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
   and give thanks to his holy name!

Psalm 99

The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
   He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 
The Lord is great in Zion;
   he is exalted over all the peoples. 
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
   Holy is he! 
Mighty King,* lover of justice,
   you have established equity;
you have executed justice
   and righteousness in Jacob. 
Extol the Lord our God;
   worship at his footstool.
   Holy is he! 

Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
   Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
   They cried to the Lord, and he answered them. 
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
   they kept his decrees,
   and the statutes that he gave them. 

O Lord our God, you answered them;
   you were a forgiving God to them,
   but an avenger of their wrongdoings. 
Extol the Lord our God,
   and worship at his holy mountain;
   for the Lord our God is holy.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 94

Psalm 94

O Lord, you God of vengeance,
   you God of vengeance, shine forth! 
Rise up, O judge of the earth;
   give to the proud what they deserve! 
O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
   how long shall the wicked exult? 

They pour out their arrogant words;
   all the evildoers boast. 
They crush your people, O Lord,
   and afflict your heritage. 
They kill the widow and the stranger,
   they murder the orphan, 
and they say, ‘The Lord does not see;
   the God of Jacob does not perceive.’ 

Understand, O dullest of the people;
   fools, when will you be wise? 
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see? 
He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
   does he not chastise? 
The Lord knows our thoughts,*
   that they are but an empty breath. 

Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,
   and whom you teach out of your law, 
giving them respite from days of trouble,
   until a pit is dug for the wicked. 
For the Lord will not forsake his people;
   he will not abandon his heritage; 
for justice will return to the righteous,
   and all the upright in heart will follow it. 

Who rises up for me against the wicked?
   Who stands up for me against evildoers? 
If the Lord had not been my help,
   my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. 
When I thought, ‘My foot is slipping’,
   your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. 
When the cares of my heart are many,
   your consolations cheer my soul. 
Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
   those who contrive mischief by statute? 
They band together against the life of the righteous,
   and condemn the innocent to death. 
But the Lord has become my stronghold,
   and my God the rock of my refuge. 
He will repay them for their iniquity
   and wipe them out for their wickedness;
   the Lord our God will wipe them out.
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