Thursday 3 February 2022 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Thursday 3 February 2022 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 23:1-20

Sarah lived for one hundred and twenty-seven years; this was the
length of Sarah’s life. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is,
Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah
and to weep for her. Abraham rose up from beside his dead, and said to
the Hittites, ‘I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give
me property among you for a burying-place, so that I may bury my dead
out of my sight.’ The Hittites answered Abraham, ‘Hear us, my
lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest
of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial
ground for burying your dead.’ Abraham rose and bowed to the
Hittites, the people of the land. He said to them, ‘If you are
willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and
entreat for me Ephron son of Zohar, so that he may give me the cave of
Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full
price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a
burying-place.’ Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and
Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of
all who went in at the gate of his city, ‘No, my lord, hear me; I
give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it; in the
presence of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.’ Then
Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. He said to Ephron in
the hearing of the people of the land, ‘If you only will listen to
me! I will give the price of the field; accept it from me, so that I
may bury my dead there.’ Ephron answered Abraham, ‘My lord, listen
to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is
that between you and me? Bury your dead.’ Abraham agreed with
Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had
named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver,
according to the weights current among the merchants.

 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre,
the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in
the field, throughout its whole area, passed to Abraham as a
possession in the presence of the Hittites, in the presence of all who
went in at the gate of his city. After this, Abraham buried Sarah his
wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is,
Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it
passed from the Hittites into Abraham’s possession as a
burying-place.
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Hebrews 11:32-12:2

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon,
Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who
through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained
promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war,
put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by
resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in
order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and
flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death,
they were sawn in two,* they were killed by the sword; they went about
in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of
whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains,
and in caves and holes in the ground.

 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not
receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so
that they would not, without us, be made perfect.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so
closely,* and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before
us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for
the sake of* the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of
the throne of God.
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John 6:60-71

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is
difficult; who can accept it?’ But Jesus, being aware that his
disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend
you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he
was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.
The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you
there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first
who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would
betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no
one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’

 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went
about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go
away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You
have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that
you are the Holy One of God.’* Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not
choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.’ He was speaking
of Judas son of Simon Iscariot,* for he, though one of the twelve, was
going to betray him.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 71

Psalm 71

In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
   let me never be put to shame. 
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
   incline your ear to me and save me. 
Be to me a rock of refuge,
   a strong fortress,* to save me,
   for you are my rock and my fortress. 

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
   from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. 
For you, O Lord, are my hope,
   my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 
Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
   it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you. 

I have been like a portent to many,
   but you are my strong refuge. 
My mouth is filled with your praise,
   and with your glory all day long. 
Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
   do not forsake me when my strength is spent. 
For my enemies speak concerning me,
   and those who watch for my life consult together. 
They say, ‘Pursue and seize that person
   whom God has forsaken,
   for there is no one to deliver.’ 

O God, do not be far from me;
   O my God, make haste to help me! 
Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
   let those who seek to hurt me
   be covered with scorn and disgrace. 
But I will hope continually,
   and will praise you yet more and more. 
My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
   of your deeds of salvation all day long,
   though their number is past my knowledge. 
I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God,
   I will praise your righteousness, yours alone. 

O God, from my youth you have taught me,
   and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 
So even to old age and grey hairs,
   O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might
   to all the generations to come.*
Your power and your righteousness, O God,
   reach the high heavens. 

You who have done great things,
   O God, who is like you? 
You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
   will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
   you will bring me up again. 
You will increase my honour,
   and comfort me once again. 

I will also praise you with the harp
   for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
   O Holy One of Israel. 
My lips will shout for joy
   when I sing praises to you;
   my soul also, which you have rescued. 
All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help,
for those who tried to do me harm
   have been put to shame, and disgraced.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 74

Psalm 74

O God, why do you cast us off for ever?
   Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? 
Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago,
   which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage.
   Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell. 
Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
   the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary. 

Your foes have roared within your holy place;
   they set up their emblems there. 
At the upper entrance they hacked
   the wooden trellis with axes.* 
And then, with hatchets and hammers,
   they smashed all its carved work. 
They set your sanctuary on fire;
   they desecrated the dwelling-place of your name,
   bringing it to the ground. 
They said to themselves, ‘We will utterly subdue them’;
   they burned all the meeting-places of God in the land. 

We do not see our emblems;
   there is no longer any prophet,
   and there is no one among us who knows how long. 
How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
   Is the enemy to revile your name for ever? 
Why do you hold back your hand;
   why do you keep your hand in* your bosom? 

Yet God my King is from of old,
   working salvation in the earth. 
You divided the sea by your might;
   you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters. 
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
   you gave him as food* for the creatures of the wilderness. 
You cut openings for springs and torrents;
   you dried up ever-flowing streams. 
Yours is the day, yours also the night;
   you established the luminaries* and the sun. 
You have fixed all the bounds of the earth;
   you made summer and winter. 

Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
   and an impious people reviles your name. 
Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals;
   do not forget the life of your poor for ever. 

Have regard for your* covenant,
   for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of
violence. 
Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;
   let the poor and needy praise your name. 
Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
   remember how the impious scoff at you all day long. 
Do not forget the clamour of your foes,
   the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.
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