Wednesday 20 October 2021 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Wednesday 20 October 2021
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Lamentations 2:8-15

The Lord determined to lay in ruins
   the wall of daughter Zion;
he stretched the line;
   he did not withhold his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to lament;
   they languish together. 

Her gates have sunk into the ground;
   he has ruined and broken her bars;
her king and princes are among the nations;
   guidance is no more,
and her prophets obtain
   no vision from the Lord. 

The elders of daughter Zion
   sit on the ground in silence;
they have thrown dust on their heads
   and put on sackcloth;
the young girls of Jerusalem
   have bowed their heads to the ground. 

My eyes are spent with weeping;
   my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out on the ground
   because of the destruction of my people,
because infants and babes faint
   in the streets of the city. 

They cry to their mothers,
   ‘Where is bread and wine?’
as they faint like the wounded
   in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
   on their mothers’ bosom. 

What can I say for you, to what compare you,
   O daughter Jerusalem?
To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you,
   O virgin daughter Zion?
For vast as the sea is your ruin;
   who can heal you? 

Your prophets have seen for you
   false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
   to restore your fortunes,
but have seen oracles for you
   that are false and misleading. 

All who pass along the way
   clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
   at daughter Jerusalem;
‘Is this the city that was called
   the perfection of beauty,
   the joy of all the earth?’
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1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,* but we will
all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must
put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal
body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be
fulfilled:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ 
‘Where, O death, is your victory?
   Where, O death, is your sting?’ 
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks
be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Therefore, my beloved,* be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in
the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is
not in vain.
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Matthew 12:1-14
 
At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath; his
disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to
eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your
disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.’ He
said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his
companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread
of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to
eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on
the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are
guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But
if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not
sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son
of Man is lord of the sabbath.’
 He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with
a withered hand, and they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to cure on the
sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Suppose
one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath;
will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is
a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the
sabbath.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He
stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. But the
Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 38

Psalm 38

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,
   or discipline me in your wrath. 
For your arrows have sunk into me,
   and your hand has come down on me. 

There is no soundness in my flesh
   because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
   because of my sin. 
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
   they weigh like a burden too heavy for me. 

My wounds grow foul and fester
   because of my foolishness; 
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
   all day long I go around mourning. 
For my loins are filled with burning,
   and there is no soundness in my flesh. 
I am utterly spent and crushed;
   I groan because of the tumult of my heart. 

O Lord, all my longing is known to you;
   my sighing is not hidden from you. 
My heart throbs, my strength fails me;
   as for the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. 
My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction,
   and my neighbours stand far off. 

Those who seek my life lay their snares;
   those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin,
   and meditate treachery all day long. 

But I am like the deaf, I do not hear;
   like the mute, who cannot speak. 
Truly, I am like one who does not hear,
   and in whose mouth is no retort. 

But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait;
   it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. 
For I pray, ‘Only do not let them rejoice over me,
   those who boast against me when my foot slips.’ 

For I am ready to fall,
   and my pain is ever with me. 
I confess my iniquity;
   I am sorry for my sin. 
Those who are my foes without cause* are mighty,
   and many are those who hate me wrongfully. 
Those who render me evil for good
   are my adversaries because I follow after good. 

Do not forsake me, O Lord;
   O my God, do not be far from me; 
make haste to help me,
   O Lord, my salvation.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 119:25-48

Psalm 119:25-48

My soul clings to the dust;
   revive me according to your word. 
When I told of my ways, you answered me;
   teach me your statutes. 
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
   and I will meditate on your wondrous works. 
My soul melts away for sorrow;
   strengthen me according to your word. 
Put false ways far from me;
   and graciously teach me your law. 
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
   I set your ordinances before me. 
I cling to your decrees, O Lord;
   let me not be put to shame. 
I run the way of your commandments,
   for you enlarge my understanding. 

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes,
   and I will observe it to the end. 
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
   and observe it with my whole heart. 
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
   for I delight in it. 
Turn my heart to your decrees,
   and not to selfish gain. 
Turn my eyes from looking at vanities;
   give me life in your ways. 
Confirm to your servant your promise,
   which is for those who fear you. 
Turn away the disgrace that I dread,
   for your ordinances are good. 
See, I have longed for your precepts;
   in your righteousness give me life. 

Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord,
   your salvation according to your promise. 
Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me,
   for I trust in your word. 
Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
   for my hope is in your ordinances. 
I will keep your law continually,
   for ever and ever. 
I shall walk at liberty,
   for I have sought your precepts. 
I will also speak of your decrees before kings,
   and shall not be put to shame; 
I find my delight in your commandments,
   because I love them. 
I revere your commandments, which I love,
   and I will meditate on your statutes.
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