Wednesday 23 March 2022 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Wednesday 23 March 2022 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 45:16-28

When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, ‘Joseph’s brothers
have come’, Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. Pharaoh said to
Joseph, ‘Say to your brothers, “Do this: load your animals and go
back to the land of Canaan. Take your father and your households and
come to me, so that I may give you the best of the land of Egypt, and
you may enjoy the fat of the land.” You are further charged to say,
“Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones
and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Give no thought
to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is
yours.” ’

 The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons according to the
instruction of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey.
To each one of them he gave a set of garments; but to Benjamin he gave
three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments. To his
father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the good things
of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and
provision for his father on the journey. Then he sent his brothers on
their way, and as they were leaving he said to them, ‘Do not
quarrel* along the way.’

 So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the
land of Canaan. And they told him, ‘Joseph is still alive! He is
even ruler over all the land of Egypt.’ He was stunned; he could not
believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he
had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to
carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said,
‘Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before
I die.’
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1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us
possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone
who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary
knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.

 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘no
idol in the world really exists’, and that ‘there is no God but
one.’ Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or
on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us
there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we
exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and
through whom we exist.

 It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have
become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food
they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak,
is defiled. ‘Food will not bring us close to God.’* We are no
worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care
that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling-block
to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in
the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak,
be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by
your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are
destroyed.* But when you thus sin against members of your family,* and
wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling,* I will never eat
meat, so that I may not cause one of them* to fall.
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Mark 6:13-29

They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick
and cured them.
 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’* name had become known. Some
were* saying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and
for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ But others said,
‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of
the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John,
whom I beheaded, has been raised.’

 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put
him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,
because Herod* had married her. For John had been telling Herod, ‘It
is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ And Herodias
had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not,
for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man,
and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed;*
and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod
on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for
the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias* came in and
danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the
girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ And he
solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even
half of my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What
should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’
Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you
to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ The
king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the
guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a
soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s* head. He went and
beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it
to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples
heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 119:97-120

Psalm 119:97-120

Oh, how I love your law!
   It is my meditation all day long. 
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
   for it is always with me. 
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
   for your decrees are my meditation. 
I understand more than the aged,
   for I keep your precepts. 
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
   in order to keep your word. 
I do not turn away from your ordinances,
   for you have taught me. 
How sweet are your words to my taste,
   sweeter than honey to my mouth! 
Through your precepts I get understanding;
   therefore I hate every false way. 

Your word is a lamp to my feet
   and a light to my path. 
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
   to observe your righteous ordinances. 
I am severely afflicted;
   give me life, O Lord, according to your word. 
Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord,
   and teach me your ordinances. 
I hold my life in my hand continually,
   but I do not forget your law. 
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
   but I do not stray from your precepts. 
Your decrees are my heritage for ever;
   they are the joy of my heart. 
I incline my heart to perform your statutes
   for ever, to the end. 

I hate the double-minded,
   but I love your law. 
You are my hiding-place and my shield;
   I hope in your word. 
Go away from me, you evildoers,
   that I may keep the commandments of my God. 
Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,
   and let me not be put to shame in my hope. 
Hold me up, that I may be safe
   and have regard for your statutes continually. 
You spurn all who go astray from your statutes;
   for their cunning is in vain. 
All the wicked of the earth you count as dross;
   therefore I love your decrees. 
My flesh trembles for fear of you,
   and I am afraid of your judgements.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 81, 82

Psalm 81

Sing aloud to God our strength;
   shout for joy to the God of Jacob. 
Raise a song, sound the tambourine,
   the sweet lyre with the harp. 
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
   at the full moon, on our festal day. 
For it is a statute for Israel,
   an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 
He made it a decree in Joseph,
   when he went out over* the land of Egypt. 

I hear a voice I had not known: 
‘I relieved your* shoulder of the burden;
   your* hands were freed from the basket. 
In distress you called, and I rescued you;
   I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
   I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
          Selah 
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you;
   O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 
There shall be no strange god among you;
   you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 
I am the Lord your God,
   who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
   Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. 

‘But my people did not listen to my voice;
   Israel would not submit to me. 
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
   to follow their own counsels. 
O that my people would listen to me,
   that Israel would walk in my ways! 
Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
   and turn my hand against their foes. 
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
   and their doom would last for ever. 
I would feed you* with the finest of the wheat,
   and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’

Psalm 82

God has taken his place in the divine council;
   in the midst of the gods he holds judgement: 
‘How long will you judge unjustly
   and show partiality to the wicked?
          Selah 
Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
   maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. 
Rescue the weak and the needy;
   deliver them from the hand of the wicked.’ 

They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
   they walk around in darkness;
   all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 

I say, ‘You are gods,
   children of the Most High, all of you; 
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
   and fall like any prince.’* 

Rise up, O God, judge the earth;
   for all the nations belong to you!
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