Saturday 6 July 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

[info at dailylectionary.org]

Saturday 6 July 2024  
DAILY LECTIONARY

Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org
******************************************************************
Numbers 24:12-25

And Balaam said to Balak, ‘Did I not tell your messengers whom you
sent to me, “If Balak should give me his house full of silver and
gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do
either good or bad of my own will; what the Lord says, that is what I
will say”? So now, I am going to my people; let me advise you what
this people will do to your people in days to come.’
 So he uttered his oracle, saying:
‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
   the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,* 
the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
   and knows the knowledge of the Most High,*
who sees the vision of the Almighty,*
   who falls down, but with his eyes uncovered: 
I see him, but not now;
   I behold him, but not near—
a star shall come out of Jacob,
   and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the borderlands* of Moab,
   and the territory* of all the Shethites. 
Edom will become a possession,
   Seir a possession of its enemies,*
   while Israel does valiantly. 
One out of Jacob shall rule,
   and destroy the survivors of Ir.’

 Then he looked on Amalek, and uttered his oracle, saying:
‘First among the nations was Amalek,
but its end is to perish for ever.’

 Then he looked on the Kenite, and uttered his oracle, saying:
‘Enduring is your dwelling-place,
   and your nest is set in the rock; 
yet Kain is destined for burning.
   How long shall Asshur take you away captive?’

 Again he uttered his oracle, saying:
‘Alas, who shall live when God does this? 
   But ships shall come from Kittim
and shall afflict Asshur and Eber;
   and he also shall perish for ever.’

 Then Balaam got up and went back to his place, and Balak also went
his way.
******************************************************************
Romans 8:18-25

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation
waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for
the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the
will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself
will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom
of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation
has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the
creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our
bodies. For in* hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes* for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not
see, we wait for it with patience.
******************************************************************
Matthew 22:23-40

The same day some Sadducees came to him, saying there is no
resurrection;* and they asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher,
Moses said, “If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the
widow, and raise up children for his brother.” Now there were seven
brothers among us; the first married, and died childless, leaving the
widow to his brother. The second did the same, so also the third, down
to the seventh. Last of all, the woman herself died. In the
resurrection, then, whose wife of the seven will she be? For all of
them had married her.’

 Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the
scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither
marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels* in heaven. And
as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said
to you by God, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob”? He is God not of the dead, but of the living.’ And
when the crowd heard it, they were astounded at his teaching.
 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to
test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’
He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the
greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall
love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets.’
 ******************************************************************
Morning Psalms:  Psalm 137:1-9, 144

Psalm 137:1-9

By the rivers of Babylon—
   there we sat down and there we wept
   when we remembered Zion. 
On the willows* there
   we hung up our harps. 
For there our captors
   asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
   ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ 

How could we sing the Lord’s song
   in a foreign land? 
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
   let my right hand wither! 
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
   if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
   above my highest joy. 

Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
   the day of Jerusalem’s fall,
how they said, ‘Tear it down! Tear it down!
   Down to its foundations!’ 
O daughter Babylon, you devastator!*
   Happy shall they be who pay you back
   what you have done to us! 
Happy shall they be who take your little ones
   and dash them against the rock!

Psalm 144

Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
   who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; 
my rock* and my fortress,
   my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
   who subdues the peoples* under me. 

O Lord, what are human beings that you regard them,
   or mortals that you think of them? 
They are like a breath;
   their days are like a passing shadow. 

Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
   touch the mountains so that they smoke. 
Make the lightning flash and scatter them;
   send out your arrows and rout them. 
Stretch out your hand from on high;
   set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters,
   from the hand of aliens, 
whose mouths speak lies,
   and whose right hands are false. 

I will sing a new song to you, O God;
   upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, 
the one who gives victory to kings,
   who rescues his servant David. 
Rescue me from the cruel sword,
   and deliver me from the hand of aliens,
whose mouths speak lies,
   and whose right hands are false. 

May our sons in their youth
   be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars,
   cut for the building of a palace. 
May our barns be filled
   with produce of every kind;
may our sheep increase by thousands,
   by tens of thousands in our fields, 
   and may our cattle be heavy with young.
May there be no breach in the walls,* no exile,
   and no cry of distress in our streets. 

Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall;
   happy are the people whose God is the Lord.
******************************************************************
Evening Psalms:  Psalm 104

Psalm 104

Bless the Lord, O my soul.
   O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honour and majesty, 
   wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent, 
   you set the beams of your* chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your* chariot,
   you ride on the wings of the wind, 
you make the winds your* messengers,
   fire and flame your* ministers. 

You set the earth on its foundations,
   so that it shall never be shaken. 
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
   the waters stood above the mountains. 
At your rebuke they flee;
   at the sound of your thunder they take to flight. 
They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys
   to the place that you appointed for them. 
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
   so that they might not again cover the earth. 

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
   they flow between the hills, 
giving drink to every wild animal;
   the wild asses quench their thirst. 
By the streams* the birds of the air have their habitation;
   they sing among the branches. 
>From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
   the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. 

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
   and plants for people to use,*
to bring forth food from the earth, 
   and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
   and bread to strengthen the human heart. 
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
   the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. 
In them the birds build their nests;
   the stork has its home in the fir trees. 
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
   the rocks are a refuge for the coneys. 
You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
   the sun knows its time for setting. 
You make darkness, and it is night,
   when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. 
The young lions roar for their prey,
   seeking their food from God. 
When the sun rises, they withdraw
   and lie down in their dens. 
People go out to their work
   and to their labour until the evening. 

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
   In wisdom you have made them all;
   the earth is full of your creatures. 
Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
   creeping things innumerable are there,
   living things both small and great. 
There go the ships,
   and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it. 

These all look to you
   to give them their food in due season; 
when you give to them, they gather it up;
   when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. 
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
   when you take away their breath, they die
   and return to their dust. 
When you send forth your spirit,* they are created;
   and you renew the face of the ground. 

May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;
   may the Lord rejoice in his works— 
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
   who touches the mountains and they smoke. 
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
   I will sing praise to my God while I have being. 
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
   for I rejoice in the Lord. 
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
   and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!
******************************************************************


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://dailylectionary.org/pipermail/dailylectionary_dailylectionary.org/attachments/20240706/54517080/attachment.htm>