Wednesday 4 December 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Wednesday 4 December 2024  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Isaiah 2:1-11

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 

In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it. 
   Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 
He shall judge between the nations,
   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war any more. 

O house of Jacob,
   come, let us walk
   in the light of the Lord! 
For you have forsaken the ways of* your people,
   O house of Jacob.
Indeed they are full of diviners* from the east
   and of soothsayers like the Philistines,
   and they clasp hands with foreigners. 
Their land is filled with silver and gold,
   and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
   and there is no end to their chariots. 
Their land is filled with idols;
   they bow down to the work of their hands,
   to what their own fingers have made. 
And so people are humbled,
   and everyone is brought low—
   do not forgive them! 
Enter into the rock,
   and hide in the dust
from the terror of the Lord,
   and from the glory of his majesty. 
The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low,
   and the pride of everyone shall be humbled;
and the Lord alone will be exalted
   on that day.
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1 Thessalonians 2:13-20

We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received
the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human
word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in
you believers. For you, brothers and sisters,* became imitators of the
churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered
the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews,
who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets,* and drove us out;
they displease God and oppose everyone by hindering us from speaking
to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly
been filling up the measure of their sins; but God’s wrath has
overtaken them at last.*
 As for us, brothers and sisters,* when, for a short time, we were
made orphans by being separated from you—in person, not in
heart—we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face. For we
wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and
again—but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope or joy or
crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
Yes, you are our glory and joy!
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Luke 20:19-26

When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this
parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very
hour, but they feared the people.
 So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in
order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the
jurisdiction and authority of the governor. So they asked him,
‘Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and
you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance
with truth. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or
not?’ But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, ‘Show me
a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?’ They said,
‘The emperor’s.’ He said to them, ‘Then give to the emperor
the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are
God’s.’ And they were not able in the presence of the people to
trap him by what he said; and being amazed by his answer, they became
silent.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 119:1-24

Psalm 119:1-24

Happy are those whose way is blameless,
   who walk in the law of the Lord. 
Happy are those who keep his decrees,
   who seek him with their whole heart, 
who also do no wrong,
   but walk in his ways. 
You have commanded your precepts
   to be kept diligently. 
O that my ways may be steadfast
   in keeping your statutes! 
Then I shall not be put to shame,
   having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. 
I will praise you with an upright heart,
   when I learn your righteous ordinances. 
I will observe your statutes;
   do not utterly forsake me. 

How can young people keep their way pure?
   By guarding it according to your word. 
With my whole heart I seek you;
   do not let me stray from your commandments. 
I treasure your word in my heart,
   so that I may not sin against you. 
Blessed are you, O Lord;
   teach me your statutes. 
With my lips I declare
   all the ordinances of your mouth. 
I delight in the way of your decrees
   as much as in all riches. 
I will meditate on your precepts,
   and fix my eyes on your ways. 
I will delight in your statutes;
   I will not forget your word. 

Deal bountifully with your servant,
   so that I may live and observe your word. 
Open my eyes, so that I may behold
   wondrous things out of your law. 
I live as an alien in the land;
   do not hide your commandments from me. 
My soul is consumed with longing
   for your ordinances at all times. 
You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
   who wander from your commandments; 
take away from me their scorn and contempt,
   for I have kept your decrees. 
Even though princes sit plotting against me,
   your servant will meditate on your statutes. 
Your decrees are my delight,
   they are my counsellors.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 12, 13, 14

Psalm 12

Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;
   the faithful have disappeared from humankind. 
They utter lies to each other;
   with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. 

May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
   the tongue that makes great boasts, 
those who say, ‘With our tongues we will prevail;
   our lips are our own—who is our master?’ 

‘Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
   I will now rise up,’ says the Lord;
   ‘I will place them in the safety for which they long.’ 
The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,
   silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
   purified seven times. 

You, O Lord, will protect us;
   you will guard us from this generation for ever. 
On every side the wicked prowl,
   as vileness is exalted among humankind.

Psalm 13

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever?
   How long will you hide your face from me? 
How long must I bear pain* in my soul,
   and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
   Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 
and my enemy will say, ‘I have prevailed’;
   my foes will rejoice because I am shaken. 

But I trusted in your steadfast love;
   my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 
I will sing to the Lord,
   because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 14

Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’
   They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
   there is no one who does good. 

The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind
   to see if there are any who are wise,
   who seek after God. 

They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse;
   there is no one who does good,
   no, not one. 

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
   who eat up my people as they eat bread,
   and do not call upon the Lord? 

There they shall be in great terror,
   for God is with the company of the righteous. 
You would confound the plans of the poor,
   but the Lord is their refuge. 

O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
   When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
   Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
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