Friday 2 February 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Friday 2 February 2024 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 24:1-27

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the Lord had blessed
Abraham in all things. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his
house, who had charge of all that he had, ‘Put your hand under my
thigh and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and
earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of
the Canaanites, among whom I live, but will go to my country and to my
kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac.’ The servant said to him,
‘Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land;
must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?’
Abraham said to him, ‘See to it that you do not take my son back
there. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s
house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to
me, “To your offspring I will give this land”, he will send his
angel before you; you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if
the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from
this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.’ So the
servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore
to him concerning this matter.

 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed,
taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master; and he set out and
went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. He made the camels kneel
down outside the city by the well of water; it was towards evening,
the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, ‘O Lord, God
of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast
love to my master Abraham. I am standing here by the spring of water,
and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. Let
the girl to whom I shall say, “Please offer your jar that I may
drink”, and who shall say, “Drink, and I will water your
camels”—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your
servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love
to my master.’

 Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah, who was born to
Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, coming
out with her water-jar on her shoulder. The girl was very fair to look
upon, a virgin whom no man had known. She went down to the spring,
filled her jar, and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and
said, ‘Please let me sip a little water from your jar.’ ‘Drink,
my lord,’ she said, and quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and
gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said,
‘I will draw for your camels also, until they have finished
drinking.’ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran
again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. The man
gazed at her in silence to learn whether or not the Lord had made his
journey successful.

 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose-ring
weighing a half-shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten
gold shekels, and said, ‘Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there
room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?’ She said
to him, ‘I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore
to Nahor.’ She added, ‘We have plenty of straw and fodder and a
place to spend the night.’ The man bowed his head and worshipped the
Lord and said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham,
who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness towards
my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the way to the house of
my master’s kin.’
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Hebrews 12:3-11

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners,*
so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against
sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And
you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children—
‘My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
   or lose heart when you are punished by him; 
for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves,
   and chastises every child whom he accepts.’ 
Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as
children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?
If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then
you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human
parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even
more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they
disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he
disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness.
Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time,
but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who
have been trained by it.
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John 7:1-13

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish* to go about
in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him.
Now the Jewish festival of Booths* was near. So his brothers said to
him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see
the works you are doing; for no one who wants* to be widely known acts
in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ (For
not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, ‘My time
has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate
you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are
evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not* going to this festival,
for my time has not yet fully come.’ After saying this, he remained
in Galilee.
 But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went,
not publicly but as it were* in secret. The Jews were looking for him
at the festival and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was
considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were
saying, ‘He is a good man’, others were saying, ‘No, he is
deceiving the crowd.’ Yet no one would speak openly about him for
fear of the Jews.
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 69

Psalm 69

Save me, O God,
   for the waters have come up to my neck. 
I sink in deep mire,
   where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
   and the flood sweeps over me. 
I am weary with my crying;
   my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
   with waiting for my God. 

More in number than the hairs of my head
   are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
   my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal
   must I now restore? 
O God, you know my folly;
   the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. 

Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
   O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonoured because of me,
   O God of Israel. 
It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
   that shame has covered my face. 
I have become a stranger to my kindred,
   an alien to my mother’s children. 

It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
   the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. 
When I humbled my soul with fasting,*
   they insulted me for doing so. 
When I made sackcloth my clothing,
   I became a byword to them. 
I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
   and the drunkards make songs about me. 

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
   At an acceptable time, O God,
   in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help rescue me
   from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
   and from the deep waters. 
Do not let the flood sweep over me,
   or the deep swallow me up,
   or the Pit close its mouth over me. 

Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
   according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. 
Do not hide your face from your servant,
   for I am in distress—make haste to answer me. 
Draw near to me, redeem me,
   set me free because of my enemies. 

You know the insults I receive,
   and my shame and dishonour;
   my foes are all known to you. 
Insults have broken my heart,
   so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
   and for comforters, but I found none. 
They gave me poison for food,
   and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. 

Let their table be a trap for them,
   a snare for their allies. 
Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
   and make their loins tremble continually. 
Pour out your indignation upon them,
   and let your burning anger overtake them. 
May their camp be a desolation;
   let no one live in their tents. 
For they persecute those whom you have struck down,
   and those whom you have wounded, they attack still more.* 
Add guilt to their guilt;
   may they have no acquittal from you. 
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
   let them not be enrolled among the righteous. 
But I am lowly and in pain;
   let your salvation, O God, protect me. 

I will praise the name of God with a song;
   I will magnify him with thanksgiving. 
This will please the Lord more than an ox
   or a bull with horns and hoofs. 
Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
   you who seek God, let your hearts revive. 
For the Lord hears the needy,
   and does not despise his own that are in bonds. 

Let heaven and earth praise him,
   the seas and everything that moves in them. 
For God will save Zion
   and rebuild the cities of Judah;
and his servants shall live* there and possess it; 
   the children of his servants shall inherit it,
   and those who love his name shall live in it.
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 73

Psalm 73

Truly God is good to the upright,*
   to those who are pure in heart. 
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
   my steps had nearly slipped. 
For I was envious of the arrogant;
   I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 

For they have no pain;
   their bodies are sound and sleek. 
They are not in trouble as others are;
   they are not plagued like other people. 
Therefore pride is their necklace;
   violence covers them like a garment. 
Their eyes swell out with fatness;
   their hearts overflow with follies. 
They scoff and speak with malice;
   loftily they threaten oppression. 
They set their mouths against heaven,
   and their tongues range over the earth. 

Therefore the people turn and praise them,*
   and find no fault in them.* 
And they say, ‘How can God know?
   Is there knowledge in the Most High?’ 
Such are the wicked;
   always at ease, they increase in riches. 
All in vain I have kept my heart clean
   and washed my hands in innocence. 
For all day long I have been plagued,
   and am punished every morning. 

If I had said, ‘I will talk on in this way’,
   I would have been untrue to the circle of your children. 
But when I thought how to understand this,
   it seemed to me a wearisome task, 
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
   then I perceived their end. 
Truly you set them in slippery places;
   you make them fall to ruin. 
How they are destroyed in a moment,
   swept away utterly by terrors! 
They are* like a dream when one awakes;
   on awaking you despise their phantoms. 

When my soul was embittered,
   when I was pricked in heart, 
I was stupid and ignorant;
   I was like a brute beast towards you. 
Nevertheless I am continually with you;
   you hold my right hand. 
You guide me with your counsel,
   and afterwards you will receive me with honour.* 
Whom have I in heaven but you?
   And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. 
My flesh and my heart may fail,
   but God is the strength* of my heart and my portion for ever. 

Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
   you put an end to those who are false to you. 
But for me it is good to be near God;
   I have made the Lord God my refuge,
   to tell of all your works.
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