Tuesday 17 January 2023 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Tuesday 17 January 2023 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Isaiah 44:9-20

All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not
profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put
to shame. Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no
good? Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too
are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall
be terrified, they shall all be put to shame.

 The blacksmith fashions it* and works it over the coals, shaping it
with hammers, and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry
and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter
stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes,
and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human
beauty, to be set up in a shrine. He cuts down cedars or chooses a
holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the
forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it can be
used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire
and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a
carved image and bows down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire;
over this half he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied. He also
warms himself and says, ‘Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!’ The
rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it, and
worships it; he prays to it and says, ‘Save me, for you are my
god!’

 They do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut,
so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot
understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to
say, ‘Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its
coals, I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it
an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?’ He feeds
on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save
himself or say, ‘Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?’
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Ephesians 4:17-32

Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live
as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. They are
darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God
because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all
sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to
practise every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned
Christ! For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as
truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of
life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be
renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the
new self, created according to the likeness of God in true
righteousness and holiness.
 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to
our neighbours, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not
sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room
for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labour
and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to
share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but
only what is useful for building up,* as there is need, so that your
words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of
redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and
wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one
another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has
forgiven you.
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Mark 3:19b-35

and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they
could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to
restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his
mind.’ And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has
Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ And
he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan
cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom
cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house
will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself
and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can
enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first
tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

 ‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and
whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the
Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal
sin’— for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’
 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they
sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they
said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters* are
outside, asking for you.’ And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and
my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said,
‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is
my brother and sister and mother.’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 26, 28

Psalm 26

Vindicate me, O Lord,
   for I have walked in my integrity,
   and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. 
Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
   test my heart and mind. 
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
   and I walk in faithfulness to you.* 

I do not sit with the worthless,
   nor do I consort with hypocrites; 
I hate the company of evildoers,
   and will not sit with the wicked. 

I wash my hands in innocence,
   and go around your altar, O Lord, 
singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
   and telling all your wondrous deeds. 

O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,
   and the place where your glory abides. 
Do not sweep me away with sinners,
   nor my life with the bloodthirsty, 
those in whose hands are evil devices,
   and whose right hands are full of bribes. 

But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
   redeem me, and be gracious to me. 
My foot stands on level ground;
   in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.

Psalm 28

To you, O Lord, I call;
   my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
   I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 
Hear the voice of my supplication,
   as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
   towards your most holy sanctuary.* 

Do not drag me away with the wicked,
   with those who are workers of evil,
who speak peace with their neighbours,
   while mischief is in their hearts. 
Repay them according to their work,
   and according to the evil of their deeds;
repay them according to the work of their hands;
   render them their due reward. 
Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
   or the work of his hands,
he will break them down and build them up no more. 

Blessed be the Lord,
   for he has heard the sound of my pleadings. 
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
   in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
   and with my song I give thanks to him. 

The Lord is the strength of his people;
   he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 
O save your people, and bless your heritage;
   be their shepherd, and carry them for ever.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 36, 39

Psalm 36

Transgression speaks to the wicked
   deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
   before their eyes. 
For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
   that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 
The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
   they have ceased to act wisely and do good. 
They plot mischief while on their beds;
   they are set on a way that is not good;
   they do not reject evil. 

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
   your faithfulness to the clouds. 
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
   your judgements are like the great deep;
   you save humans and animals alike, O Lord. 

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
   All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 
They feast on the abundance of your house,
   and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 
For with you is the fountain of life;
   in your light we see light. 

O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
   and your salvation to the upright of heart! 
Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
   or the hand of the wicked drive me away. 
There the evildoers lie prostrate;
   they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Palm 39

I said, ‘I will guard my ways
   that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
   as long as the wicked are in my presence.’ 
I was silent and still;
   I held my peace to no avail;
my distress grew worse, 
   my heart became hot within me.
While I mused, the fire burned;
   then I spoke with my tongue: 

‘Lord, let me know my end,
   and what is the measure of my days;
   let me know how fleeting my life is. 
You have made my days a few handbreadths,
   and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight.
Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. 
          Selah 
   Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
   they heap up, and do not know who will gather. 

‘And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
   My hope is in you. 
Deliver me from all my transgressions.
   Do not make me the scorn of the fool. 
I am silent; I do not open my mouth,
   for it is you who have done it. 
Remove your stroke from me;
   I am worn down by the blows* of your hand. 

‘You chastise mortals
   in punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is dear to them;
   surely everyone is a mere breath. 
          Selah

‘Hear my prayer, O Lord,
   and give ear to my cry;
   do not hold your peace at my tears.
For I am your passing guest,
   an alien, like all my forebears. 
Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again,
   before I depart and am no more.’
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