Thursday 28 July 2022 DAILY LECTIONARY

[info at dailylectionary.org]

Thursday 28 July 2022
DAILY LECTIONARY

Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org

Notice: At times email providers change their spam filters. To keep
your daily lectionary reading from going to spam please add
dailylectionary at dailylectionary.org and info at dailylectionary.org to
your white list. 

For help with setting a white list check www.whitelist.guide or search
the web. Please do not send us questions on how to set up a white
list. We are not computer savvy and therefore are unable to provide
assistance.
******************************************************************
Judges 4:4-23

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging
Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and
Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to
her for judgement. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from
Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel,
commands you, “Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten
thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will
draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the
Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into
your hand.” ’ Barak said to her, ‘If you will go with me, I will
go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.’ And she said,
‘I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are
going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into
the hand of a woman.’ Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to
Kedesh. Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten
thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him.

 Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites,* that is,
the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped
as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

 When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount
Tabor, Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of
iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to
the Wadi Kishon. Then Deborah said to Barak, ‘Up! For this is the
day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is
indeed going out before you.’ So Barak went down from Mount Tabor
with ten thousand warriors following him. And the Lord threw Sisera
and all his chariots and all his army into a panic* before Barak;
Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, while Barak
pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army
of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.

 Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber
the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the
clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to
him, ‘Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.’ So he
turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
Then he said to her, ‘Please give me a little water to drink; for I
am thirsty.’ So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and
covered him. He said to her, ‘Stand at the entrance of the tent, and
if anybody comes and asks you, “Is anyone here?” say, “No.”
’ But Jael wife of Heber took a tent-peg, and took a hammer in her
hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until
it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from
weariness—and he died. Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera,
Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, ‘Come, and I will show
you the man whom you are seeking.’ So he went into her tent; and
there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent-peg in his temple.

 So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the
Israelites.
******************************************************************
Acts 1:15-26

In those days Peter stood up among the believers* (together the crowd
numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, ‘Friends,*
the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David
foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested
Jesus— for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in
this ministry.’ (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of
his wickedness; and falling headlong,* he burst open in the middle and
all his bowels gushed out. This became known to all the residents of
Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama,
that is, Field of Blood.) ‘For it is written in the book of Psalms,
“Let his homestead become desolate,
   and let there be no one to live in it”;
and
“Let another take his position of overseer.” 
So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the
Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of
John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must
become a witness with us to his resurrection.’ So they proposed two,
Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show
us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place* in this
ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his
own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on
Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
******************************************************************
Matthew 27:55-66

Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had
followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were
Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the
mother of the sons of Zebedee.
 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named
Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked
for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it
in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a
great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief
priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, ‘Sir, we
remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, “After
three days I will rise again.” Therefore command that the tomb be
made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and
steal him away, and tell the people, “He has been raised from the
dead”, and the last deception would be worse than the first.’
Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard* of soldiers; go, make it as
secure as you can.’* So they went with the guard and made the tomb
secure by sealing the stone.

******************************************************************
Morning Psalms:  Psalm 70, 71

Psalm 70

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
   O Lord, make haste to help me! 
Let those be put to shame and confusion
   who seek my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonour
   who desire to hurt me. 
Let those who say, ‘Aha, Aha!’
   turn back because of their shame. 

Let all who seek you
   rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation
   say evermore, ‘God is great!’ 
But I am poor and needy;
   hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
   O Lord, do not delay!

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.
******************************************************************
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.
******************************************************************


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://dailylectionary.org/pipermail/dailylectionary_dailylectionary.org/attachments/20220728/21e5573d/attachment.html>