Sunday 15 December 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Sunday 15 December 2024  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Isaiah 13:6-13

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
   it will come like destruction from the Almighty!* 
Therefore all hands will be feeble,
   and every human heart will fail, 
   and they will be dismayed.
Pangs and agony will seize them;
   they will be in anguish like a woman in labour.
They will look aghast at one another;
   their faces will be aflame. 
See, the day of the Lord comes,
   cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the earth a desolation,
   and to destroy its sinners from it. 
For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
   will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising,
   and the moon will not shed its light. 
I will punish the world for its evil,
   and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant,
   and lay low the insolence of tyrants. 
I will make mortals more rare than fine gold,
   and humans than the gold of Ophir. 
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
   and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts
   on the day of his fierce anger.
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Hebrews 12:18-29

You have not come to something* that can be touched, a blazing fire,
and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet,
and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be
spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given,
‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to
death.’ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I
tremble with fear.’) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels
in festal gathering, and to the assembly* of the firstborn who are
enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of
the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new
covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than
the blood of Abel.

 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did
not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how
much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!
At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised,
‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the
heaven.’ This phrase ‘Yet once more’ indicates the removal of
what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be
shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that
cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an
acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a
consuming fire.
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John 3:22-30

After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside,
and he spent some time there with them and baptized. John also was
baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and
people kept coming and were being baptized— John, of course, had not
yet been thrown into prison.

 Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples
and a Jew.* They came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, the one who
was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is
baptizing, and all are going to him.’ John answered, ‘No one can
receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You
yourselves are my witnesses that I said, “I am not the Messiah,* but
I have been sent ahead of him.” He who has the bride is the
bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy
has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.’
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 63:1-11, 98

Psalm 63:1-11

O God, you are my God, I seek you,
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
   as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
   beholding your power and glory. 
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
   my lips will praise you. 
So I will bless you as long as I live;
   I will lift up my hands and call on your name. 

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,*
   and my mouth praises you with joyful lips 
when I think of you on my bed,
   and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 
for you have been my help,
   and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. 
My soul clings to you;
   your right hand upholds me. 

But those who seek to destroy my life
   shall go down into the depths of the earth; 
they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
   they shall be prey for jackals. 
But the king shall rejoice in God;
   all who swear by him shall exult,
   for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Psalm 98

O sing to the Lord a new song,
   for he has done marvellous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
   have gained him victory. 
The Lord has made known his victory;
   he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. 
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
   to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
   the victory of our God. 

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
   break forth into joyous song and sing praises. 
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
   with the lyre and the sound of melody. 
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
   make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord. 

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
   the world and those who live in it. 
Let the floods clap their hands;
   let the hills sing together for joy 
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
   to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
   and the peoples with equity.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 103

Psalm 103

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and all that is within me,
   bless his holy name. 
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and do not forget all his benefits— 
who forgives all your iniquity,
   who heals all your diseases, 
who redeems your life from the Pit,
   who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 
who satisfies you with good as long as you live*
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 

The Lord works vindication
   and justice for all who are oppressed. 
He made known his ways to Moses,
   his acts to the people of Israel. 
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 
He will not always accuse,
   nor will he keep his anger for ever. 
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
   nor repay us according to our iniquities. 
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
   so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him; 
as far as the east is from the west,
   so far he removes our transgressions from us. 
As a father has compassion for his children,
   so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. 
For he knows how we were made;
   he remembers that we are dust. 

As for mortals, their days are like grass;
   they flourish like a flower of the field; 
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
   and its place knows it no more. 
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
   on those who fear him,
   and his righteousness to children’s children, 
to those who keep his covenant
   and remember to do his commandments. 

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
   and his kingdom rules over all. 
Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
   you mighty ones who do his bidding,
   obedient to his spoken word. 
Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
   his ministers that do his will. 
Bless the Lord, all his works,
   in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
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