Tuesday 20 August 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY
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Tue Aug 20 02:00:02 EDT 2024
Tuesday 20 August 2024
DAILY LECTIONARY
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Judges 18:1-15
In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe
of the Danites was seeking for itself a territory to live in; for
until then no territory among the tribes of Israel had been allotted
to them. So the Danites sent five valiant men from the whole number of
their clan, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to
explore it; and they said to them, ‘Go, explore the land.’ When
they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they
stayed there. While they were at Micah’s house, they recognized the
voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, ‘Who
brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your
business here?’ He said to them, ‘Micah did such and such for me,
and he hired me, and I have become his priest.’ Then they said to
him, ‘Inquire of God that we may know whether the mission we are
undertaking will succeed.’ The priest replied, ‘Go in peace. The
mission you are on is under the eye of the Lord.’
The five men went on, and when they came to Laish, they observed the
people who were there living securely, after the manner of the
Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking* nothing on earth, and
possessing wealth.* Furthermore, they were far from the Sidonians and
had no dealings with Aram.* When they came to their kinsfolk at Zorah
and Eshtaol, they said to them, ‘What do you report?’ They said,
‘Come, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and it
is very good. Will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, but enter in
and possess the land. When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting
people. The land is broad—God has indeed given it into your
hands—a place where there is no lack of anything on earth.’
Six hundred men of the Danite clan, armed with weapons of war, set
out from Zorah and Eshtaol, and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim
in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahaneh-dan* to this
day; it is west of Kiriath-jearim. From there they passed on to the
hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land (that is, Laish)
said to their comrades, ‘Do you know that in these buildings there
are an ephod, teraphim, and an idol of cast metal? Now therefore
consider what you will do.’ So they turned in that direction and
came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and
greeted him.
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Acts 8:1-13
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. Devout men buried Stephen and made loud
lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church by entering
house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them
to prison.
Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming
the word. Philip went down to the city* of Samaria and proclaimed the
Messiah* to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what
was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for
unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were
possessed; and many others who were paralysed or lame were cured. So
there was great joy in that city.
Now a certain man named Simon had previously practised magic in the
city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone
great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him
eagerly, saying, ‘This man is the power of God that is called
Great.’ And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he
had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, who was
proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of
Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon
himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with
Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that
took place.
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John 5:30-47
The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing;
and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be
astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them
life, so also the Son gives life to whomsoever he wishes. The Father
judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son, so that all may
honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Anyone who does not
honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. Very truly, I
tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has
eternal life, and does not come under judgement, but has passed from
death to life.
‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when
the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear
will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has
granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him
authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not
be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in
their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have
done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil,
to the resurrection of condemnation.
‘I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgement
is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who
sent me.
‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is
another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to
me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the
truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things
so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you
were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a
testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given
me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself
testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his
form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not
believe him whom he has sent.
‘You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have
eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse
to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings.
But I know that you do not have the love of God in* you. I have come
in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in
his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe when you accept
glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the
one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the
Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you
believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if
you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 120, 121, 122, 123
Psalm 120
In my distress I cry to the Lord,
that he may answer me:
‘Deliver me, O Lord,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.’
What shall be given to you?
And what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
A warrior’s sharp arrows,
with glowing coals of the broom tree!
Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech,
that I must live among the tents of Kedar.
Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
I am for peace;
but when I speak,
they are for war.
Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and for evermore.
Psalm 122
I was glad when they said to me,
‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’
Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there the thrones for judgement were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.’
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
Psalm 123
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 124, 125, 126, 127
Psalm 124
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
—let Israel now say—
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 125
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
from this time on and for evermore.
For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous may not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!
Psalm 126
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,*
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Psalm 127
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labour in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
the guard keeps watch in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives sleep to his beloved.*
Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the sons of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has
his quiver full of them.
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
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