Wednesday 18 December 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Wednesday 18 December 2024  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Isaiah 9:8-17

The Lord sent a word against Jacob,
   and it fell on Israel; 
and all the people knew it—
   Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—
   but in pride and arrogance of heart they said: 
‘The bricks have fallen,
   but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycomores have been cut down,
   but we will put cedars in their place.’ 
So the Lord raised adversaries* against them,
   and stirred up their enemies, 
the Arameans in the east and the Philistines in the west,
   and they devoured Israel with open mouth.
For all this, his anger has not turned away;
   his hand is stretched out still. 

The people did not turn to him who struck them,
   or seek the Lord of hosts. 
So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
   palm branch and reed in one day— 
elders and dignitaries are the head,
   and prophets who teach lies are the tail; 
for those who led this people led them astray,
   and those who were led by them were left in confusion. 
That is why the Lord did not have pity on* their young people,
   or compassion on their orphans and widows;
for everyone was godless and an evildoer,
   and every mouth spoke folly.
For all this, his anger has not turned away;
   his hand is stretched out still.
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2 Peter 2:1-10a

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be
false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing
swift destruction on themselves. Even so, many will follow their
licentious ways, and because of these teachers* the way of truth will
be maligned. And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive
words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not
been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them
into hell* and committed them to chains* of deepest darkness to be
kept until the judgement; and if he did not spare the ancient world,
even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven
others, when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly; and if by
turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to
extinction* and made them an example of what is coming to the
ungodly;* and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by
the licentiousness of the lawless (for that righteous man, living
among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by their
lawless deeds that he saw and heard), then the Lord knows how to
rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under
punishment until the day of judgement —especially those who indulge
their flesh in depraved lust, and who despise authority.

Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones,
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Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news* of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.*

 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,*
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,*
   who will prepare your way; 
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
   “Prepare the way of the Lord,
   make his paths straight” ’, 
John the baptizer appeared* in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism
of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole
Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to
him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their
sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt
around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed,
‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not
worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have
baptized you with* water; but he will baptize you with* the Holy
Spirit.’
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 119:49-72

Psalm 119:49-72

Remember your word to your servant,
   in which you have made me hope. 
This is my comfort in my distress,
   that your promise gives me life. 
The arrogant utterly deride me,
   but I do not turn away from your law. 
When I think of your ordinances from of old,
   I take comfort, O Lord. 
Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
   those who forsake your law. 
Your statutes have been my songs
   wherever I make my home. 
I remember your name in the night, O Lord,
   and keep your law. 
This blessing has fallen to me,
   for I have kept your precepts. 

The Lord is my portion;
   I promise to keep your words. 
I implore your favour with all my heart;
   be gracious to me according to your promise. 
When I think of your ways,
   I turn my feet to your decrees; 
I hurry and do not delay
   to keep your commandments. 
Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
   I do not forget your law. 
At midnight I rise to praise you,
   because of your righteous ordinances. 
I am a companion of all who fear you,
   of those who keep your precepts. 
The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love;
   teach me your statutes. 

You have dealt well with your servant,
   O Lord, according to your word. 
Teach me good judgement and knowledge,
   for I believe in your commandments. 
Before I was humbled I went astray,
   but now I keep your word. 
You are good and do good;
   teach me your statutes. 
The arrogant smear me with lies,
   but with my whole heart I keep your precepts. 
Their hearts are fat and gross,
   but I delight in your law. 
It is good for me that I was humbled,
   so that I might learn your statutes. 
The law of your mouth is better to me
   than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 49, 53

Psalm 49

Hear this, all you peoples;
   give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 
both low and high,
   rich and poor together. 
My mouth shall speak wisdom;
   the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. 
I will incline my ear to a proverb;
   I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp. 

Why should I fear in times of trouble,
   when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me, 
those who trust in their wealth
   and boast of the abundance of their riches? 
Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life,*
   there is no price one can give to God for it. 
For the ransom of life is costly,
   and can never suffice, 
that one should live on for ever
   and never see the grave.* 

When we look at the wise, they die;
   fool and dolt perish together
   and leave their wealth to others. 
Their graves* are their homes for ever,
   their dwelling-places to all generations,
   though they named lands their own. 
Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
   they are like the animals that perish. 

Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
   the end of those* who are pleased with their lot.
          Selah 
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
   Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend,*
   and their form shall waste away;
   Sheol shall be their home.* 
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
   for he will receive me.
          Selah 

Do not be afraid when some become rich,
   when the wealth of their houses increases. 
For when they die they will carry nothing away;
   their wealth will not go down after them. 
Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy
   —for you are praised when you do well for yourself— 
they* will go to the company of their ancestors,
   who will never again see the light. 
Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
   they are like the animals that perish.

Psalm 53

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

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

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

Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,
   who eat up my people as they eat bread,
   and do not call upon God? 

There they shall be in great terror,
   in terror such as has not been.
For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly;*
   they will be put to shame,* for God has rejected them. 

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