Tuesday 19 July 2022 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Tuesday 19 July 2022  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Joshua 8:1-22

Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed; take all
the fighting men with you, and go up now to Ai. See, I have handed
over to you the king of Ai with his people, his city, and his land.
You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king;
only its spoil and its livestock you may take as booty for yourselves.
Set an ambush against the city, behind it.’

 So Joshua and all the fighting men set out to go up against Ai.
Joshua chose thirty thousand warriors and sent them out by night with
the command, ‘You shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it;
do not go very far from the city, but all of you stay alert. I and all
the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out
against us, as before, we shall flee from them. They will come out
after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will
say, “They are fleeing from us, as before.” While we flee from
them, you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city; for the
Lord your God will give it into your hand. And when you have taken the
city, you shall set the city on fire, doing as the Lord has ordered;
see, I have commanded you.’ So Joshua sent them out; and they went
to the place of ambush, and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of
Ai; but Joshua spent that night in the camp.*

 In the morning Joshua rose early and mustered the people, and went
up, with the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. All the
fighting men who were with him went up, and drew near before the city,
and camped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai.
Taking about five thousand men, he set them in ambush between Bethel
and Ai, to the west of the city. So they stationed the forces, the
main encampment that was north of the city and its rearguard west of
the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. When the king of
Ai saw this, he and all his people, the inhabitants of the city,
hurried out early in the morning to the meeting-place facing the
Arabah to meet Israel in battle; but he did not know that there was an
ambush against him behind the city. And Joshua and all Israel made a
pretence of being beaten before them, and fled in the direction of the
wilderness. So all the people who were in the city were called
together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn
away from the city. There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did
not go out after Israel; they left the city open, and pursued Israel.

 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Stretch out the sword that is in
your hand towards Ai; for I will give it into your hand.’ And Joshua
stretched out the sword that was in his hand towards the city. As soon
as he stretched out his hand, the troops in ambush rose quickly out of
their place and rushed forward. They entered the city, took it, and at
once set the city on fire. So when the men of Ai looked back, the
smoke of the city was rising to the sky. They had no power to flee
this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned
back against the pursuers. When Joshua and all Israel saw that the
ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city was rising,
then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. And the others
came out from the city against them; so they were surrounded by
Israelites, some on one side, and some on the other; and Israel struck
them down until no one was left who survived or escaped.
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Romans 14:1-12

Welcome those who are weak in faith,* but not for the purpose of
quarrelling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the
weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who
abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgement on those who
eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgement on
servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or
fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord* is able to make them
stand.

 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all
days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those
who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who
eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while
those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to
God.

 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we
live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then,
whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this
end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the
dead and the living.

 Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister?* Or you, why do
you despise your brother or sister?* For we will all stand before the
judgement seat of God.* For it is written,
‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
   and every tongue shall give praise to* God.’ 
So then, each of us will be accountable to God.*
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Matthew 26:47-56

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with
him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests
and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign,
saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.’ At once he
came up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed him.
Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you are here to do.’ Then they
came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. Suddenly, one of those
with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of
the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put
your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish
by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he
will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then
would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this
way?’ At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, ‘Have you come out
with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day
after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But
all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may
be fulfilled.’ Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 45

Psalm 45

My heart overflows with a goodly theme;
   I address my verses to the king;
   my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. 

You are the most handsome of men;
   grace is poured upon your lips;
   therefore God has blessed you for ever. 
Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
   in your glory and majesty. 

In your majesty ride on victoriously
   for the cause of truth and to defend* the right;
   let your right hand teach you dread deeds. 
Your arrows are sharp
   in the heart of the king’s enemies;
   the peoples fall under you. 

Your throne, O God,* endures for ever and ever.
   Your royal sceptre is a sceptre of equity; 
   you love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
   with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; 
   your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
>From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; 
   daughters of kings are among your ladies of honour;
   at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. 

Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear;
   forget your people and your father’s house, 
   and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him; 
   the people* of Tyre will seek your favour with gifts,
   the richest of the people with all kinds of wealth. 

The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes;* 
   in many-coloured robes she is led to the king;
   behind her the virgins, her companions, follow. 
With joy and gladness they are led along
   as they enter the palace of the king. 

In the place of ancestors you, O king,* shall have sons;
   you will make them princes in all the earth. 
I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations;
   therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 47, 48

Psalm 47

Clap your hands, all you peoples;
   shout to God with loud songs of joy. 
For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
   a great king over all the earth. 
He subdued peoples under us,
   and nations under our feet. 
He chose our heritage for us,
   the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
          Selah 

God has gone up with a shout,
   the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. 
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
   sing praises to our King, sing praises. 
For God is the king of all the earth;
   sing praises with a psalm.* 

God is king over the nations;
   God sits on his holy throne. 
The princes of the peoples gather
   as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
   he is highly exalted.

Psalm 48

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
   in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
   is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
   the city of the great King. 
Within its citadels God
   has shown himself a sure defence. 

Then the kings assembled,
   they came on together. 
As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
   they were in panic, they took to flight; 
trembling took hold of them there,
   pains as of a woman in labour, 
as when an east wind shatters
   the ships of Tarshish. 
As we have heard, so have we seen
   in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
   which God establishes for ever.
          Selah 

We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
   in the midst of your temple. 
Your name, O God, like your praise,
   reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with victory. 
   Let Mount Zion be glad,
let the towns* of Judah rejoice
   because of your judgements. 

Walk about Zion, go all around it,
   count its towers, 
consider well its ramparts;
   go through its citadels,
that you may tell the next generation 
   that this is God,
our God for ever and ever.
   He will be our guide for ever.
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