Monday 3 July 2023 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 3 July 2023
DAILY LECTIONARY

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1 Samuel 10:17-27

Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah and said to them,
‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “I brought up Israel out
of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from
the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.” But today
you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and
your distresses; and you have said, “No! but set a king over us.”
Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by
your clans.’ 
Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of
Benjamin was taken by lot. He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by
its families, and the family of the Matrites was taken by lot. Finally
he brought the family of the Matrites near man by man, and Saul the
son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not
be found. So they inquired again of the Lord, ‘Did the man come
here?’ and the Lord said, ‘See, he has hidden himself among the
baggage.’ Then they ran and brought him from there. When he took his
stand among the people, he was head and shoulders taller than any of
them. Samuel said to all the people, ‘Do you see the one whom the
Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.’ And
all the people shouted, ‘Long live the king!’ 
Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship; and he
wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent
all the people back to their homes. Saul also went to his home at
Gibeah, and with him went warriors whose hearts God had touched. But
some worthless fellows said, ‘How can this man save us?’ They
despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the
Gadites and the Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each
of them and would not grant Israel a deliverer. No one was left of the
Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the
Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were seven thousand men who
had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh-gilead.
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Acts 7:44-8:1a

‘Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God
directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to
the pattern he had seen. Our ancestors in turn brought it in with
Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before
our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, who found
favour with God and asked that he might find a dwelling-place for the
house of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the
Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet
says, 
“Heaven is my throne,
   and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
   or what is the place of my rest? 
Did not my hand make all these things?” 
‘You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are
for ever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.
Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed
those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have
become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the
law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.’ 
When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their
teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into
heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand
of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son
of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ But they covered their
ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they
dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses
laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they
were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’
Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold
this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died. 
And Saul approved of their killing him.
That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem,
and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside
of Judea and Samaria.
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Luke 22:52-62

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple
police, and the elders who had come for him, ‘Have you come out with
swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? When I was with you day after
day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour,
and the power of darkness!’ 
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high
priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had
kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together,
Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the
firelight, stared at him and said, ‘This man also was with him.’
But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.’ A little
later someone else, on seeing him, said, ‘You also are one of
them.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ Then about an hour later
yet another kept insisting, ‘Surely this man also was with him; for
he is a Galilean.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you
are talking about!’ At that moment, while he was still speaking, the
cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter
remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the
cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and
wept bitterly.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 106:1-18

Psalm 106:1-18

Praise the Lord!
   O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
   for his steadfast love endures for ever. 
Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord,
   or declare all his praise? 
Happy are those who observe justice,
   who do righteousness at all times. 

Remember me, O Lord, when you show favour to your people;
   help me when you deliver them; 
that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
   that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
   that I may glory in your heritage. 

Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
   we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly. 
Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt,
   did not consider your wonderful works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
   but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea. 
Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
   so that he might make known his mighty power. 
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry;
   he led them through the deep as through a desert. 
So he saved them from the hand of the foe,
   and delivered them from the hand of the enemy. 
The waters covered their adversaries;
   not one of them was left. 
Then they believed his words;
   they sang his praise. 

But they soon forgot his works;
   they did not wait for his counsel. 
But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
   and put God to the test in the desert; 
he gave them what they asked,
   but sent a wasting disease among them. 

They were jealous of Moses in the camp,
   and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord. 
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
   and covered the faction of Abiram. 
Fire also broke out in their company;
   the flame burned up the wicked. 
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 106:19-48

Psalm 106:19-48

They made a calf at Horeb
   and worshipped a cast image. 
They exchanged the glory of God
   for the image of an ox that eats grass. 
They forgot God, their Saviour,
   who had done great things in Egypt, 
wondrous works in the land of Ham,
   and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 
Therefore he said he would destroy them—
   had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
   to turn away his wrath from destroying them. 

Then they despised the pleasant land,
   having no faith in his promise. 
They grumbled in their tents,
   and did not obey the voice of the Lord. 
Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
   that he would make them fall in the wilderness, 
and would disperse their descendants among the nations,
   scattering them over the lands. 

Then they attached themselves to the Baal of Peor,
   and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; 
they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
   and a plague broke out among them. 
Then Phinehas stood up and interceded,
   and the plague was stopped. 
And that has been reckoned to him as righteousness
   from generation to generation for ever. 

They angered the Lord at the waters of Meribah,
   and it went ill with Moses on their account; 
for they made his spirit bitter,
   and he spoke words that were rash. 

They did not destroy the peoples
   as the Lord commanded them, 
but they mingled with the nations
   and learned to do as they did. 
They served their idols,
   which became a snare to them. 
They sacrificed their sons
   and their daughters to the demons; 
they poured out innocent blood,
   the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
   and the land was polluted with blood. 
Thus they became unclean by their acts,
   and prostituted themselves in their doings. 

Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
   and he abhorred his heritage; 
he gave them into the hand of the nations,
   so that those who hated them ruled over them. 
Their enemies oppressed them,
   and they were brought into subjection under their power. 
Many times he delivered them,
   but they were rebellious in their purposes,
   and were brought low through their iniquity. 
Nevertheless, he regarded their distress
   when he heard their cry. 
For their sake he remembered his covenant,
   and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast
love. 
He caused them to be pitied
   by all who held them captive. 

Save us, O Lord our God,
   and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
   and glory in your praise. 

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
   from everlasting to everlasting.
And let all the people say, ‘Amen.’
   Praise the Lord!
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