Sunday 31 October 2021 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Sunday 31 October 2021
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Nehemiah 5:1-19

Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against
their Jewish kin. For there were those who said, ‘With our sons and
our daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and
stay alive.’ There were also those who said, ‘We are having to
pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain
during the famine.’ And there were those who said, ‘We are having
to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax.
Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the
same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters
to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are
powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others.’

 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints.
After thinking it over, I brought charges against the nobles and the
officials; I said to them, ‘You are all taking interest from your
own people.’ And I called a great assembly to deal with them, and
said to them, ‘As far as we were able, we have bought back our
Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations; but now you are
selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!’ They were
silent, and could not find a word to say. So I said, ‘The thing that
you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God,
to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? Moreover, I and my
brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us stop
this taking of interest. Restore to them, this very day, their fields,
their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the
interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting
from them.’ Then they said, ‘We will restore everything and demand
nothing more from them. We will do as you say.’ And I called the
priests, and made them take an oath to do as they had promised. I also
shook out the fold of my garment and said, ‘So may God shake out
everyone from house and from property who does not perform this
promise. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied.’ And all the
assembly said, ‘Amen’, and praised the Lord. And the people did as
they had promised.
 Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in
the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year
of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the
food allowance of the governor. The former governors who were before
me laid heavy burdens on the people, and took food and wine from them,
besides forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over
the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. Indeed, I
devoted myself to the work on this wall, and acquired no land; and all
my servants were gathered there for the work. Moreover, there were at
my table one hundred and fifty people, Jews and officials, besides
those who came to us from the nations around us. Now that which was
prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were
prepared for me, and every ten days skins of wine in abundance; yet
with all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor,
because of the heavy burden of labour on the people. Remember for my
good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.
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Acts 20:7-12

On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was
holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next
day, he continued speaking until midnight. There were many lamps in
the room upstairs where we were meeting. A young man named Eutychus,
who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep
while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the
ground three floors below and was picked up dead. But Paul went down,
and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, ‘Do not be
alarmed, for his life is in him.’ Then Paul went upstairs, and after
he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them
until dawn; then he left. Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive
and were not a little comforted.
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Luke 12:22-31
 
He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about
your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider
the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse
nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than
the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your
span of life?* If then you are not able to do so small a thing as
that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they
grow: they neither toil nor spin;* yet I tell you, even Solomon in all
his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the
grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into
the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And
do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to
drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world
that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you
need them. Instead, strive for his* kingdom, and these things will be
given to you as well.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 24, 29

Psalm 24

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
   the world, and those who live in it; 
for he has founded it on the seas,
   and established it on the rivers. 

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
   And who shall stand in his holy place? 
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
   who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
   and do not swear deceitfully. 
They will receive blessing from the Lord,
   and vindication from the God of their salvation. 
Such is the company of those who seek him,
   who seek the face of the God of Jacob.*
          Selah 

Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in. 
Who is the King of glory?
   The Lord, strong and mighty,
   the Lord, mighty in battle. 
Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in. 
Who is this King of glory?
   The Lord of hosts,
   he is the King of glory.
          Selah

Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,*
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
   worship the Lord in holy splendour. 

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters. 
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
   the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
   and Sirion like a young wild ox. 

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
   the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 

The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,*
   and strips the forest bare;
   and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’ 

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
   the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever. 
May the Lord give strength to his people!
   May the Lord bless his people with peace!
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 8, 84

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

You have set your glory above the heavens. 
   Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
   to silence the enemy and the avenger. 

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established; 
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals* that you care for them? 

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,*
   and crowned them with glory and honour. 
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet, 
all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field, 
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 

O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 84

How lovely is your dwelling place,
   O Lord of hosts! 
My soul longs, indeed it faints
   for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
   to the living God. 

Even the sparrow finds a home,
   and the swallow a nest for herself,
   where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
   my King and my God. 
Happy are those who live in your house,
   ever singing your praise.
          Selah 

Happy are those whose strength is in you,
   in whose heart are the highways to Zion.* 
As they go through the valley of Baca
   they make it a place of springs;
   the early rain also covers it with pools. 
They go from strength to strength;
   the God of gods will be seen in Zion. 

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
   give ear, O God of Jacob!
          Selah 
Behold our shield, O God;
   look on the face of your anointed. 

For a day in your courts is better
   than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
   than live in the tents of wickedness. 
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
   he bestows favour and honour.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
   from those who walk uprightly. 
O Lord of hosts,
   happy is everyone who trusts in you.
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