Saturday 23 December 2023 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Saturday 23 December 2023 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Zechariah 8:9-17

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strong—you that have
recently been hearing these words from the mouths of the prophets who
were present when the foundation was laid for the rebuilding of the
temple, the house of the Lord of hosts. For before those days there
were no wages for people or for animals, nor was there any safety from
the foe for those who went out or came in, and I set them all against
one another. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people
as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts. For there shall be a
sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, the ground shall give
its produce, and the skies shall give their dew; and I will cause the
remnant of this people to possess all these things. Just as you have
been a cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of
Israel, so I will save you and you shall be a blessing. Do not be
afraid, but let your hands be strong.

 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Just as I purposed to bring
disaster upon you, when your ancestors provoked me to wrath, and I did
not relent, says the Lord of hosts, so again I have purposed in these
days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; do not be
afraid. These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one
another, render in your gates judgements that are true and make for
peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love
no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord.
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Revelation 6:1-17

Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of
the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder,
‘Come!’* I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a
bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to
conquer.

 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature
call out, ‘Come!’* And out came* another horse, bright red; its
rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would
slaughter one another; and he was given a great sword.

 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature
call out, ‘Come!’* I looked, and there was a black horse! Its
rider held a pair of scales in his hand, and I heard what seemed to be
a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart
of wheat for a day’s pay,* and three quarts of barley for a day’s
pay,* but do not damage the olive oil and the wine!’

 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
living creature call out, ‘Come!’* I looked and there was a pale
green horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed with
him; they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill
with sword, famine, and pestilence, and by the wild animals of the
earth.

 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of
those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the
testimony they had given; they cried out with a loud voice,
‘Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge
and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?’ They were
each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the
number would be complete both of their fellow-servants* and of their
brothers and sisters,* who were soon to be killed as they themselves
had been killed.

 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and there came a great
earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became
like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree
drops its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a
scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island was removed
from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the magnates and the
generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free,
hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the
mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the
one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great
day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’
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Matthew 25:31-46

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will
be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the
sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will
say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and
you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of
me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will
answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you
food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that
we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you
clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and
visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you,
just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my
family,* you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left
hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave
me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a
stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me
clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they
also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or
thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take
care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as
you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to
me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the
righteous into eternal life.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 55

Psalm 55

Give ear to my prayer, O God;
   do not hide yourself from my supplication. 
Attend to me, and answer me;
   I am troubled in my complaint.
I am distraught by the noise of the enemy,
   because of the clamour of the wicked.
For they bring* trouble upon me,
   and in anger they cherish enmity against me. 

My heart is in anguish within me,
   the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 
Fear and trembling come upon me,
   and horror overwhelms me. 
And I say, ‘O that I had wings like a dove!
   I would fly away and be at rest; 
truly, I would flee far away;
   I would lodge in the wilderness;
          Selah 
I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
   from the raging wind and tempest.’ 

Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech;
   for I see violence and strife in the city. 
Day and night they go around it
   on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it; 
   ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
   do not depart from its market-place. 

It is not enemies who taunt me—
   I could bear that;
it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me—
   I could hide from them. 
But it is you, my equal,
   my companion, my familiar friend, 
with whom I kept pleasant company;
   we walked in the house of God with the throng. 
Let death come upon them;
   let them go down alive to Sheol;
   for evil is in their homes and in their hearts. 

But I call upon God,
   and the Lord will save me. 
Evening and morning and at noon
   I utter my complaint and moan,
   and he will hear my voice. 
He will redeem me unharmed
   from the battle that I wage,
   for many are arrayed against me. 
God, who is enthroned from of old,
          Selah
   will hear, and will humble them—
because they do not change,
   and do not fear God. 

My companion laid hands on a friend
   and violated a covenant with me* 
with speech smoother than butter,
   but with a heart set on war;
with words that were softer than oil,
   but in fact were drawn swords. 

Cast your burden* on the Lord,
   and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
   the righteous to be moved. 

But you, O God, will cast them down
   into the lowest pit;
the bloodthirsty and treacherous
   shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 138, 139

Psalm 138

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
   before the gods I sing your praise; 
I bow down towards your holy temple
   and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your
faithfulness;
   for you have exalted your name and your word
   above everything.* 
On the day I called, you answered me,
   you increased my strength of soul.* 

All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
   for they have heard the words of your mouth. 
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
   for great is the glory of the Lord. 
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
   but the haughty he perceives from far away. 

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
   you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
   and your right hand delivers me. 
The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
   your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.
   Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Psalm 139

O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away. 
You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways. 
Even before a word is on my tongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely. 
You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me. 
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is so high that I cannot attain it. 

Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence? 
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 
If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 
even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast. 
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light around me become night’, 
even the darkness is not dark to you;
   the night is as bright as the day,
   for darkness is as light to you. 

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
   Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well. 
   My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
   intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
   all the days that were formed for me,
   when none of them as yet existed. 
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
   How vast is the sum of them! 
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
   I come to the end*—I am still with you. 

O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
   and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me— 
those who speak of you maliciously,
   and lift themselves up against you for evil!* 
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
   And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 
I hate them with perfect hatred;
   I count them my enemies. 
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my thoughts. 
See if there is any wicked* way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.
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