Thursday 16 February 2023 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Thursday 16 February 2023 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Isaiah 65:1-12

I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
   to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’,
   to a nation that did not call on my name. 
I held out my hands all day long
   to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
   following their own devices; 
a people who provoke me
   to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
   and offering incense on bricks; 
who sit inside tombs,
   and spend the night in secret places;
who eat swine’s flesh,
   with broth of abominable things in their vessels; 
who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
   do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.’
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
   a fire that burns all day long. 
See, it is written before me:
   I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their laps 
   their* iniquities and their* ancestors’ iniquities together,

says the Lord;
because they offered incense on the mountains
   and reviled me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
   full payment for their actions. 
Thus says the Lord:
As the wine is found in the cluster,
   and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
   for there is a blessing in it’,
so I will do for my servants’ sake,
   and not destroy them all. 
I will bring forth descendants* from Jacob,
   and from Judah inheritors* of my mountains;
my chosen shall inherit it,
   and my servants shall settle there. 
Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
   and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
   for my people who have sought me. 
But you who forsake the Lord,
   who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
   and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny, 
I will destine you to the sword,
   and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter;
because, when I called, you did not answer,
   when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my sight,
   and chose what I did not delight in.
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1 Timothy 4:1-16

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later* times some will renounce
the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of
demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared
with a hot iron. They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from
foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who
believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and
nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving;
for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.
 If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters,* you
will be a good servant* of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the
faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. Have nothing
to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in
godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is
valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and
the life to come. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance.
For to this end we toil and struggle,* because we have our hope set on
the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those
who believe.

 These are the things you must insist on and teach. Let no one
despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and
conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I arrive, give attention
to the public reading of scripture,* to exhorting, to teaching. Do not
neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through
prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.* Put
these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may
see your progress. Pay close attention to yourself and to your
teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save
both yourself and your hearers.
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Mark 12:13-27

Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in
what he said. And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that
you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard
people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with
truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? Should we pay
them, or should we not?’ But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to
them, ‘Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and
let me see it.’ And they brought one. Then he said to them, ‘Whose
head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The
emperor’s.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Give to the emperor the things
that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’
And they were utterly amazed at him.
 Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and
asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a
man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man* shall
marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. There were
seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children;
and the second married her and died, leaving no children; and the
third likewise; none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman
herself died. In the resurrection* whose wife will she be? For the
seven had married her.’

 Jesus said to them, ‘Is not this the reason you are wrong, that
you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they
rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but
are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you
not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God
said to him, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob”? He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are
quite wrong.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 105:1-22

Psalm 105:1-22

O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
   make known his deeds among the peoples. 
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
   tell of all his wonderful works. 
Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 
Seek the Lord and his strength;
   seek his presence continually. 
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgements he has uttered, 
O offspring of his servant Abraham,*
   children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 

He is the Lord our God;
   his judgements are in all the earth. 
He is mindful of his covenant for ever,
   of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 
the covenant that he made with Abraham,
   his sworn promise to Isaac, 
which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
   to Israel as an everlasting covenant, 
saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan
   as your portion for an inheritance.’ 

When they were few in number,
   of little account, and strangers in it, 
wandering from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another people, 
he allowed no one to oppress them;
   he rebuked kings on their account, 
saying, ‘Do not touch my anointed ones;
   do my prophets no harm.’ 

When he summoned famine against the land,
   and broke every staff of bread, 
he had sent a man ahead of them,
   Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 
His feet were hurt with fetters,
   his neck was put in a collar of iron; 
until what he had said came to pass,
   the word of the Lord kept testing him. 
The king sent and released him;
   the ruler of the peoples set him free. 
He made him lord of his house,
   and ruler of all his possessions, 
to instruct* his officials at his pleasure,
   and to teach his elders wisdom.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 105:23-45

Psalm 105:23-45

Then Israel came to Egypt;
   Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham. 
And the Lord made his people very fruitful,
   and made them stronger than their foes, 
whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
   to deal craftily with his servants. 

He sent his servant Moses,
   and Aaron whom he had chosen. 
They performed his signs among them,
   and miracles in the land of Ham. 
He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
   they rebelled* against his words. 
He turned their waters into blood,
   and caused their fish to die. 
Their land swarmed with frogs,
   even in the chambers of their kings. 
He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
   and gnats throughout their country. 
He gave them hail for rain,
   and lightning that flashed through their land. 
He struck their vines and fig trees,
   and shattered the trees of their country. 
He spoke, and the locusts came,
   and young locusts without number; 
they devoured all the vegetation in their land,
   and ate up the fruit of their ground. 
He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
   the first issue of all their strength. 

Then he brought Israel* out with silver and gold,
   and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled. 
Egypt was glad when they departed,
   for dread of them had fallen upon it. 
He spread a cloud for a covering,
   and fire to give light by night. 
They asked, and he brought quails,
   and gave them food from heaven in abundance. 
He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
   it flowed through the desert like a river. 
For he remembered his holy promise,
   and Abraham, his servant. 

So he brought his people out with joy,
   his chosen ones with singing. 
He gave them the lands of the nations,
   and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples, 
that they might keep his statutes
   and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!
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