Monday 13 March 2023 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 13 March 2023
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Jeremiah 7:1-15

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Stand in the gate of the
Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word
of the Lord, all you people of Judah, you that enter these gates to
worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Amend your ways and your doings, and let me dwell with you* in this
place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is* the temple
of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act
justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan,
and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not
go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in
this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors for ever
and ever.

 Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you
steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal,
and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and
stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say,
‘We are safe!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Has
this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in
your sight? You know, I too am watching, says the Lord. Go now to my
place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see
what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now,
because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and when I
spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you,
you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house that is called by
my name, in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and
to your ancestors, just what I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out
of my sight, just as I cast out all your kinsfolk, all the offspring
of Ephraim.
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Romans 4:1-12

What then are we to say was gained by* Abraham, our ancestor according
to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something
to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say?
‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness.’ Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a
gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who
justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. So
also David speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God reckons
righteousness irrespective of works: 
‘Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven,
   and whose sins are covered; 
blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.’

 Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or
also on the uncircumcised? We say, ‘Faith was reckoned to Abraham as
righteousness.’ How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or
after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was
circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the
righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.
The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without
being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them,
and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only
circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our
ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.
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John 7:14-36

About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and
began to teach. The Jews were astonished at it, saying, ‘How does
this man have such learning,* when he has never been taught?’ Then
Jesus answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine but his who sent me.
Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the
teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. Those who
speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the
glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.

 ‘Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.
Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?’ The crowd
answered, ‘You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?’ Jesus
answered them, ‘I performed one work, and all of you are astonished.
Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but
from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. If a
man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of
Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a
man’s whole body on the sabbath? Do not judge by appearances, but
judge with right judgement.’
 Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Is not this the
man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but
they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know
that this is the Messiah?* Yet we know where this man is from; but
when the Messiah* comes, no one will know where he is from.’ Then
Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, ‘You know me, and
you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who
sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am
from him, and he sent me.’ Then they tried to arrest him, but no one
laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many in the
crowd believed in him and were saying, ‘When the Messiah* comes,
will he do more signs than this man has done?’*
 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and
the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him.
Jesus then said, ‘I will be with you a little while longer, and then
I am going to him who sent me. You will search for me, but you will
not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.’ The Jews said to one
another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we will not find
him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach
the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, “You will search for me and
you will not find me” and, “Where I am, you cannot come”?’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 80

Psalm 80

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
   you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 
   before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
   and come to save us! 

Restore us, O God;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. 

O Lord God of hosts,
   how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? 
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
   and given them tears to drink in full measure. 
You make us the scorn* of our neighbours;
   our enemies laugh among themselves. 

Restore us, O God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved. 

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
   you drove out the nations and planted it. 
You cleared the ground for it;
   it took deep root and filled the land. 
The mountains were covered with its shade,
   the mighty cedars with its branches; 
it sent out its branches to the sea,
   and its shoots to the River. 
Why then have you broken down its walls,
   so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 
The boar from the forest ravages it,
   and all that move in the field feed on it. 

Turn again, O God of hosts;
   look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine, 
   the stock that your right hand planted.* 
They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;*
   may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 
But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
   the one whom you made strong for yourself. 
Then we will never turn back from you;
   give us life, and we will call on your name. 

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 77

Psalm 77

I cry aloud to God,
   aloud to God, that he may hear me. 
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
   in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
   my soul refuses to be comforted. 
I think of God, and I moan;
   I meditate, and my spirit faints.
          Selah 

You keep my eyelids from closing;
   I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 
I consider the days of old,
   and remember the years of long ago. 
I commune* with my heart in the night;
   I meditate and search my spirit:* 
‘Will the Lord spurn for ever,
   and never again be favourable? 
Has his steadfast love ceased for ever?
   Are his promises at an end for all time? 
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
   Has he in anger shut up his compassion?’
          Selah 
And I say, ‘It is my grief
   that the right hand of the Most High has changed.’ 

I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
   I will remember your wonders of old. 
I will meditate on all your work,
   and muse on your mighty deeds. 
Your way, O God, is holy.
   What god is so great as our God? 
You are the God who works wonders;
   you have displayed your might among the peoples. 
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
   the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
          Selah 

When the waters saw you, O God,
   when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
   the very deep trembled. 
The clouds poured out water;
   the skies thundered;
   your arrows flashed on every side. 
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
   your lightnings lit up the world;
   the earth trembled and shook. 
Your way was through the sea,
   your path, through the mighty waters;
   yet your footprints were unseen. 
You led your people like a flock
   by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
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