Thursday 22 February 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Thursday 22 February 2024 
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Genesis 39:1-23

Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of
Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the
Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph,
and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian
master. His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord
caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. So Joseph found favour
in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and
put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him
overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the
Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was
on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in
Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything
but the food that he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. And after a time his
master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, ‘Lie with me.’
But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Look, with me here,
my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put
everything that he has in my hand. He is not greater in this house
than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself,
because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness,
and sin against God?’ And although she spoke to Joseph day after
day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. One
day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no
one else was in the house, she caught hold of his garment, saying,
‘Lie with me!’ But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and
ran outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and
had fled outside, she called out to the members of her household and
said to them, ‘See, my husband* has brought among us a Hebrew to
insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a
loud voice; and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left
his garment beside me, and fled outside.’ Then she kept his garment
by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story,
saying, ‘The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in
to me to insult me; but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he
left his garment beside me, and fled outside.’

 When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying,
‘This is the way your servant treated me’, he became enraged. And
Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place
where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in
prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he
gave him favour in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer
committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison,
and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The chief
jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because
the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.
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1 Corinthians 2:14-3:15

Those who are unspiritual* do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit,
for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand
them because they are discerned spiritually. Those who are spiritual
discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s
scrutiny. 
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord
   so as to instruct him?’
But we have the mind of Christ.
And so, brothers and sisters,* I could not speak to you as spiritual
people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed
you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food.
Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For
as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of
the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one
says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’,
are you not merely human?

 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came
to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered,
but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who
waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who
plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will
receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s
servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master
builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each
builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay
any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation
is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— the work of each builder
will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be
revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has
done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder
will receive a reward. If the work is burned, the builder will suffer
loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.
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Mark 2:1-12

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he
was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for
them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to
them. Then some people* came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried
by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of
the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug
through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When
Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are
forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning
in their hearts, ‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is
blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ At once Jesus
perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions
among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such
questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
“Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat
and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic—
‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’ And
he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of
them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We
have never seen anything like this!’
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Morning Psalms: Psalm 50

Psalm 50

The mighty one, God the Lord,
   speaks and summons the earth
   from the rising of the sun to its setting. 
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
   God shines forth. 

Our God comes and does not keep silence,
   before him is a devouring fire,
   and a mighty tempest all around him. 
He calls to the heavens above
   and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 
‘Gather to me my faithful ones,
   who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!’ 
The heavens declare his righteousness,
   for God himself is judge.
          Selah 

‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
   O Israel, I will testify against you.
   I am God, your God. 
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
   your burnt-offerings are continually before me. 
I will not accept a bull from your house,
   or goats from your folds. 
For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
   the cattle on a thousand hills. 
I know all the birds of the air,*
   and all that moves in the field is mine. 

‘If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
   for the world and all that is in it is mine. 
Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
   or drink the blood of goats? 
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,*
   and pay your vows to the Most High. 
Call on me in the day of trouble;
   I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’ 

But to the wicked God says:
   ‘What right have you to recite my statutes,
   or take my covenant on your lips? 
For you hate discipline,
   and you cast my words behind you. 
You make friends with a thief when you see one,
   and you keep company with adulterers. 

‘You give your mouth free rein for evil,
   and your tongue frames deceit. 
You sit and speak against your kin;
   you slander your own mother’s child. 
These things you have done and I have been silent;
   you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you. 

‘Mark this, then, you who forget God,
   or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. 
Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me;
   to those who go the right way*
   I will show the salvation of God.’
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Evening Psalms: Psalm 19, 46

Psalm 19

The heavens are telling the glory of God;
   and the firmament* proclaims his handiwork. 
Day to day pours forth speech,
   and night to night declares knowledge. 
There is no speech, nor are there words;
   their voice is not heard; 
yet their voice* goes out through all the earth,
   and their words to the end of the world. 

In the heavens* he has set a tent for the sun, 
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
   and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
   and its circuit to the end of them;
   and nothing is hidden from its heat. 

The law of the Lord is perfect,
   reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
   making wise the simple; 
the precepts of the Lord are right,
   rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
   enlightening the eyes; 
the fear of the Lord is pure,
   enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
   and righteous altogether. 
More to be desired are they than gold,
   even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
   and drippings of the honeycomb. 

Moreover by them is your servant warned;
   in keeping them there is great reward. 
But who can detect their errors?
   Clear me from hidden faults. 
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;*
   do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
   and innocent of great transgression. 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
   be acceptable to you,
   O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
   a very present* help in trouble. 
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; 
though its waters roar and foam,
   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
          Selah 

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy habitation of the Most High. 
God is in the midst of the city;* it shall not be moved;
   God will help it when the morning dawns. 
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
   he utters his voice, the earth melts. 
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.*
          Selah 

Come, behold the works of the Lord;
   see what desolations he has brought on the earth. 
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire. 
‘Be still, and know that I am God!
   I am exalted among the nations,
   I am exalted in the earth.’ 
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.*
          Selah
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