Wednesday 7 August 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Wednesday 7 August 2024  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Judges 7:19-8:12

So Gideon and the hundred who were with him came to the outskirts of
the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set
the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were
in their hands. So the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the
jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right
hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, ‘A sword for the Lord
and for Gideon!’ Every man stood in his place all around the camp,
and all the men in camp ran; they cried out and fled. When they blew
the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against
his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as
Beth-shittah towards Zererah,* as far as the border of Abel-meholah,
by Tabbath. And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and
from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after the
Midianites.

 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of
Ephraim, saying, ‘Come down against the Midianites and seize the
waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.’ So
all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they seized the waters as
far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. They captured the two captains
of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and
Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued the
Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond
the Jordan.
Then the Ephraimites said to him, ‘What have you done to us, not to
call us when you went to fight against the Midianites?’ And they
upbraided him violently. So he said to them, ‘What have I done now
in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim
better than the vintage of Abiezer? God has given into your hands the
captains of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in
comparison with you?’ When he said this, their anger against him
subsided.

 Then Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three
hundred who were with him, exhausted and famished.* So he said to the
people of Succoth, ‘Please give some loaves of bread to my
followers, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and
Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.’ But the officials of Succoth said,
‘Do you already have in your possession the hands of Zebah and
Zalmunna, that we should give bread to your army?’ Gideon replied,
‘Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand,
I will trample your flesh on the thorns of the wilderness and on
briers.’ From there he went up to Penuel, and made the same request
of them; and the people of Penuel answered him as the people of
Succoth had answered. So he said to the people of Penuel, ‘When I
come back victorious, I will break down this tower.’

 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen
thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the
east; for one hundred and twenty thousand men bearing arms had fallen.
So Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and
attacked the army; for the army was off its guard. Zebah and Zalmunna
fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and
Zalmunna, and threw all the army into a panic.
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Acts 3:12-26

When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites,* why do
you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own
power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified
his servant* Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence
of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the
Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and
you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this
we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made
this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through
Jesus* has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of
you.

 ‘And now, friends,* I know that you acted in ignorance, as did
also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold
through all the prophets, that his Messiah* would suffer. Repent
therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that
times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that
he may send the Messiah* appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must
remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God
announced long ago through his holy prophets. Moses said, “The Lord
your God will raise up for you from your own people* a prophet like
me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. And it will be that
everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted
out from the people.” And all the prophets, as many as have spoken,
from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days. You are
the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to
your ancestors, saying to Abraham, “And in your descendants all the
families of the earth shall be blessed.” When God raised up his
servant,* he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of
you from your wicked ways.’
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John 1:29-42

The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of
whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he
was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with
water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And
John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a
dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one
who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see
the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy
Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the
Son of God.’*
 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and
as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb
of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed
Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them,
‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which
translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to
them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and
they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the
afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and
said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated
Anointed*). He brought Simon* to Jesus, who looked at him and said,
‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is
translated Peter*).

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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 119:97-120

Psalm 119:97-120

Oh, how I love your law!
   It is my meditation all day long. 
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
   for it is always with me. 
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
   for your decrees are my meditation. 
I understand more than the aged,
   for I keep your precepts. 
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
   in order to keep your word. 
I do not turn away from your ordinances,
   for you have taught me. 
How sweet are your words to my taste,
   sweeter than honey to my mouth! 
Through your precepts I get understanding;
   therefore I hate every false way. 

Your word is a lamp to my feet
   and a light to my path. 
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
   to observe your righteous ordinances. 
I am severely afflicted;
   give me life, O Lord, according to your word. 
Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord,
   and teach me your ordinances. 
I hold my life in my hand continually,
   but I do not forget your law. 
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
   but I do not stray from your precepts. 
Your decrees are my heritage for ever;
   they are the joy of my heart. 
I incline my heart to perform your statutes
   for ever, to the end. 

I hate the double-minded,
   but I love your law. 
You are my hiding-place and my shield;
   I hope in your word. 
Go away from me, you evildoers,
   that I may keep the commandments of my God. 
Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,
   and let me not be put to shame in my hope. 
Hold me up, that I may be safe
   and have regard for your statutes continually. 
You spurn all who go astray from your statutes;
   for their cunning is in vain. 
All the wicked of the earth you count as dross;
   therefore I love your decrees. 
My flesh trembles for fear of you,
   and I am afraid of your judgements.
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 81, 82

Psalm 81

Sing aloud to God our strength;
   shout for joy to the God of Jacob. 
Raise a song, sound the tambourine,
   the sweet lyre with the harp. 
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
   at the full moon, on our festal day. 
For it is a statute for Israel,
   an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 
He made it a decree in Joseph,
   when he went out over* the land of Egypt. 

I hear a voice I had not known: 
‘I relieved your* shoulder of the burden;
   your* hands were freed from the basket. 
In distress you called, and I rescued you;
   I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
   I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
          Selah 
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you;
   O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 
There shall be no strange god among you;
   you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 
I am the Lord your God,
   who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
   Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. 

‘But my people did not listen to my voice;
   Israel would not submit to me. 
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
   to follow their own counsels. 
O that my people would listen to me,
   that Israel would walk in my ways! 
Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
   and turn my hand against their foes. 
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
   and their doom would last for ever. 
I would feed you* with the finest of the wheat,
   and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’

Psalm 82

God has taken his place in the divine council;
   in the midst of the gods he holds judgement: 
‘How long will you judge unjustly
   and show partiality to the wicked?
          Selah 
Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
   maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. 
Rescue the weak and the needy;
   deliver them from the hand of the wicked.’ 

They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
   they walk around in darkness;
   all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 

I say, ‘You are gods,
   children of the Most High, all of you; 
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
   and fall like any prince.’* 

Rise up, O God, judge the earth;
   for all the nations belong to you!
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