Monday 9 December 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Monday 9 December 2024  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Isaiah 5:8-12,18-23

Ah, you who join house to house,
   who add field to field,
until there is room for no one but you,
   and you are left to live alone
   in the midst of the land! 
The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
Surely many houses shall be desolate,
   large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. 
For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
   and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.* 

Ah, you who rise early in the morning
   in pursuit of strong drink,
who linger in the evening
   to be inflamed by wine, 
whose feasts consist of lyre and harp,
   tambourine and flute and wine,
but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
   or see the work of his hands! 
Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood,
   who drag sin along as with cart-ropes, 
who say, ‘Let him make haste,
   let him speed his work
   that we may see it;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfilment,
   that we may know it!’ 
Ah, you who call evil good
   and good evil,
who put darkness for light
   and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
   and sweet for bitter! 
Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes,
   and shrewd in your own sight! 
Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine
   and valiant at mixing drink, 
who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
   and deprive the innocent of their rights!
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1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters,* you
do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know
very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the
night. When they say, ‘There is peace and security’, then sudden
destruction will come upon them, as labour pains come upon a pregnant
woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved,* are not in
darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all
children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or
of darkness. So then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us
keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those
who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let
us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a
helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath
but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died
for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.
Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you
are doing.

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Luke 21:20-28

‘When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its
desolation has come near.* Then those in Judea must flee to the
mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in
the country must not enter it; for these are days of vengeance, as a
fulfilment of all that is written. Woe to those who are pregnant and
to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be
great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; they will
fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all
nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the
times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
 ‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on
the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea
and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is
coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power
and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up
and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 25

Psalm 25

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 
O my God, in you I trust;
   do not let me be put to shame;
   do not let my enemies exult over me. 
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
   let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
   teach me your paths. 
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all day long. 

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
   for they have been from of old. 
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
   according to your steadfast love remember me,
   for your goodness’ sake, O Lord! 

Good and upright is the Lord;
   therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 
He leads the humble in what is right,
   and teaches the humble his way. 
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
   for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. 

For your name’s sake, O Lord,
   pardon my guilt, for it is great. 
Who are they that fear the Lord?
   He will teach them the way that they should choose. 

They will abide in prosperity,
   and their children shall possess the land. 
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
   and he makes his covenant known to them. 
My eyes are ever towards the Lord,
   for he will pluck my feet out of the net. 

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
   for I am lonely and afflicted. 
Relieve the troubles of my heart,
   and bring me* out of my distress. 
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
   and forgive all my sins. 

Consider how many are my foes,
   and with what violent hatred they hate me. 
O guard my life, and deliver me;
   do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
   for I wait for you. 

Redeem Israel, O God,
   out of all its troubles.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 9, 15

Psalm 9

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
   I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. 
I will be glad and exult in you;
   I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 

When my enemies turned back,
   they stumbled and perished before you. 
For you have maintained my just cause;
   you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgement. 

You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
   you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. 
The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
   their cities you have rooted out;
   the very memory of them has perished. 

But the Lord sits enthroned for ever,
   he has established his throne for judgement. 
He judges the world with righteousness;
   he judges the peoples with equity. 

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
   a stronghold in times of trouble. 
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
   for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. 

Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.
   Declare his deeds among the peoples. 
For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
   he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 

Be gracious to me, O Lord.
   See what I suffer from those who hate me;
   you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death, 
so that I may recount all your praises,
   and, in the gates of daughter Zion,
   rejoice in your deliverance. 

The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
   in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught. 
The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgement;
   the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.
          Higgaion. Selah

The wicked shall depart to Sheol,
   all the nations that forget God. 

For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
   nor the hope of the poor perish for ever. 

Rise up, O Lord! Do not let mortals prevail;
   let the nations be judged before you. 
Put them in fear, O Lord;
   let the nations know that they are only human.
          Selah

Psalm 15

O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
   Who may dwell on your holy hill? 

Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
   and speak the truth from their heart; 
who do not slander with their tongue,
   and do no evil to their friends,
   nor take up a reproach against their neighbours; 
in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
   but who honour those who fear the Lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt; 
who do not lend money at interest,
   and do not take a bribe against the innocent. 

Those who do these things shall never be moved.
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