Friday 8 September 2023 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Friday 8 September 2023
DAILY LECTIONARY

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1 Kings 11:26-43

Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon,
whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, rebelled against the king.
The following was the reason he rebelled against the king. Solomon
built the Millo, and closed up the gap in the wall* of the city of his
father David. The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw
that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the
forced labour of the house of Joseph. About that time, when Jeroboam
was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on
the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment. The two of
them were alone in the open country when Ahijah laid hold of the new
garment he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. He then said to
Jeroboam: Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the
God of Israel, ‘See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of
Solomon, and will give you ten tribes. One tribe will remain his, for
the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city
that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. This is because he
has* forsaken me, worshipped Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians,
Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has*
not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my
statutes and my ordinances, as his father David did. Nevertheless, I
will not take the whole kingdom away from him but will make him ruler
all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David whom I
chose and who did keep my commandments and my statutes; but I will
take the kingdom away from his son and give it to you—that is, the
ten tribes. Yet to his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant
David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I
have chosen to put my name. I will take you, and you shall reign over
all that your soul desires; you shall be king over Israel. If you will
listen to all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is
right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David
my servant did, I will be with you, and will build you an enduring
house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. For this
reason I will punish the descendants of David, but not for ever.’
Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam promptly fled
to Egypt, to King Shishak of Egypt, and remained in Egypt until the
death of Solomon.
 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did as well as his
wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? The
time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty
years. Solomon slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of
his father David; and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.
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James 4:13-5:6

Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and
such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making
money.’ Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is
your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then
vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will
live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance;
all such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to
do and fails to do it, commits sin.
Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are
coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are
moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be
evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have
laid up treasure* for the last days. Listen! The wages of the
labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry
out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord
of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you
have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter. You have condemned
and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
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Mark 15:22-32
 
Then they brought Jesus* to the place called Golgotha (which means the
place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he
did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among
them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The
inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the
Jews.’ And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and
one on his left.* Those who passed by derided* him, shaking their
heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build
it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ In
the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also
mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot
save himself. Let the Messiah,* the King of Israel, come down from the
cross now, so that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified
with him also taunted him.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 31

Psalm 31

In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
   do not let me ever be put to shame;
   in your righteousness deliver me. 
Incline your ear to me;
   rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
   a strong fortress to save me. 

You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
   for you are my refuge. 
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
   you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. 

You hate* those who pay regard to worthless idols,
   but I trust in the Lord. 
I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
   because you have seen my affliction;
   you have taken heed of my adversities, 
and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
   you have set my feet in a broad place. 

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
   my eye wastes away from grief,
   my soul and body also. 
For my life is spent with sorrow,
   and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,*
   and my bones waste away. 

I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
   a horror* to my neighbours,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
   those who see me in the street flee from me. 
I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
   I have become like a broken vessel. 
For I hear the whispering of many—
   terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
   as they plot to take my life. 

But I trust in you, O Lord;
   I say, ‘You are my God.’ 
My times are in your hand;
   deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. 
Let your face shine upon your servant;
   save me in your steadfast love. 
Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
   for I call on you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
   let them go dumbfounded to Sheol. 
Let the lying lips be stilled
   that speak insolently against the righteous
   with pride and contempt. 

O how abundant is your goodness
   that you have laid up for those who fear you,
and accomplished for those who take refuge in you,
   in the sight of everyone! 
In the shelter of your presence you hide them
   from human plots;
you hold them safe under your shelter
   from contentious tongues. 

Blessed be the Lord,
   for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
   when I was beset as a city under siege. 
I had said in my alarm,
   ‘I am driven far* from your sight.’
But you heard my supplications
   when I cried out to you for help. 

Love the Lord, all you his saints.
   The Lord preserves the faithful,
   but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. 
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
   all you who wait for the Lord.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 35

Psalm 35

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
   fight against those who fight against me! 
Take hold of shield and buckler,
   and rise up to help me! 
Draw the spear and javelin
   against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
   ‘I am your salvation.’ 

Let them be put to shame and dishonour
   who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
   who devise evil against me. 
Let them be like chaff before the wind,
   with the angel of the Lord driving them on. 
Let their way be dark and slippery,
   with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. 

For without cause they hid their net* for me;
   without cause they dug a pit* for my life. 
Let ruin come on them unawares.
And let the net that they hid ensnare them;
   let them fall in it—to their ruin. 

Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
   exulting in his deliverance. 
All my bones shall say,
   ‘O Lord, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
   from those too strong for them,
   the weak and needy from those who despoil them.’ 

Malicious witnesses rise up;
   they ask me about things I do not know. 
They repay me evil for good;
   my soul is forlorn. 
But as for me, when they were sick,
   I wore sackcloth;
   I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowed* on my bosom, 
   as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;
I went about as one who laments for a mother,
   bowed down and in mourning. 

But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,
   they gathered together against me;
ruffians whom I did not know
   tore at me without ceasing; 
they impiously mocked more and more,*
   gnashing at me with their teeth. 

How long, O Lord, will you look on?
   Rescue me from their ravages,
   my life from the lions! 
Then I will thank you in the great congregation;
   in the mighty throng I will praise you. 

Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,
   or those who hate me without cause wink the eye. 
For they do not speak peace,
   but they conceive deceitful words
   against those who are quiet in the land. 
They open wide their mouths against me;
   they say, ‘Aha, Aha,
   our eyes have seen it.’ 

You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent!
   O Lord, do not be far from me! 
Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defence,
   for my cause, my God and my Lord! 
Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
   according to your righteousness,
   and do not let them rejoice over me. 
Do not let them say to themselves,
   ‘Aha, we have our heart’s desire.’
Do not let them say, ‘We have swallowed you* up.’ 

Let all those who rejoice at my calamity
   be put to shame and confusion;
let those who exalt themselves against me
   be clothed with shame and dishonour. 

Let those who desire my vindication
   shout for joy and be glad,
   and say evermore,
‘Great is the Lord,
   who delights in the welfare of his servant.’ 
Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
   and of your praise all day long.
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