Sunday 23 June 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Sunday 23 June 2024  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Numbers 14:26-45

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: How long shall this
wicked congregation complain against me? I have heard the complaints
of the Israelites, which they complain against me. Say to them, ‘As
I live’, says the Lord, ‘I will do to you the very things I heard
you say: your dead bodies shall fall in this very wilderness; and of
all your number, included in the census, from twenty years old and
upwards, who have complained against me, not one of you shall come
into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of
Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said
would become booty, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that
you have despised. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this
wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness for
forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last
of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of
the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a
year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my
displeasure.’ I the Lord have spoken; surely I will do thus to all
this wicked congregation gathered together against me: in this
wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.

 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and
made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad
report about the land— the men who brought an unfavourable report
about the land died by a plague before the Lord. But Joshua son of Nun
and Caleb son of Jephunneh alone remained alive, of those men who went
to spy out the land.

 When Moses told these words to all the Israelites, the people
mourned greatly. They rose early in the morning and went up to the
heights of the hill country, saying, ‘Here we are. We will go up to
the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.’ But Moses
said, ‘Why do you continue to transgress the command of the Lord?
That will not succeed. Do not go up, for the Lord is not with you; do
not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies. For the
Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there, and you shall
fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the
Lord, the Lord will not be with you.’ But they presumed to go up to
the heights of the hill country, even though the ark of the covenant
of the Lord, and Moses, had not left the camp. Then the Amalekites and
the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated
them, pursuing them as far as Hormah.
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Acts 15:1-12

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the
brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of
Moses, you cannot be saved.’ And after Paul and Barnabas had no
small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of
the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this
question with the apostles and the elders. So they were sent on their
way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and
Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought
great joy to all the believers.* When they came to Jerusalem, they
were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they
reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who
belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘It is
necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of
Moses.’

 The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter.
After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them,
‘My brothers,* you know that in the early days God made a choice
among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would
hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who
knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy
Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith
he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are
you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a
yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the
contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the
Lord Jesus, just as they will.’

 The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul
as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through
them among the Gentiles.
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Luke 12:49-56

‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already
kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I
am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring
peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on,
five in one household will be divided, three against two and two
against three; they will be divided:
father against son
   and son against father,
mother against daughter
   and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
   and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
 He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the
west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it
happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There
will be scorching heat”; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know
how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not
know how to interpret the present time?

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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 66, 67

Psalm 66

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; 
   sing the glory of his name;
   give to him glorious praise. 
Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!
   Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you. 
All the earth worships you;
   they sing praises to you,
   sing praises to your name.’
          Selah 

Come and see what God has done:
   he is awesome in his deeds among mortals. 
He turned the sea into dry land;
   they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him, 
   who rules by his might for ever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
   let the rebellious not exalt themselves.
          Selah 

Bless our God, O peoples,
   let the sound of his praise be heard, 
who has kept us among the living,
   and has not let our feet slip. 
For you, O God, have tested us;
   you have tried us as silver is tried. 
You brought us into the net;
   you laid burdens on our backs; 
you let people ride over our heads;
   we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.* 

I will come into your house with burnt-offerings;
   I will pay you my vows, 
those that my lips uttered
   and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. 
I will offer to you burnt-offerings of fatlings,
   with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats.
          Selah 

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
   and I will tell what he has done for me. 
I cried aloud to him,
   and he was extolled with my tongue. 
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
   the Lord would not have listened. 
But truly God has listened;
   he has given heed to the words of my prayer. 

Blessed be God,
   because he has not rejected my prayer
   or removed his steadfast love from me.

Psalm 67

May God be gracious to us and bless us
   and make his face to shine upon us,
          Selah 
that your way may be known upon earth,
   your saving power among all nations. 
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
   let all the peoples praise you. 

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
   for you judge the peoples with equity
   and guide the nations upon earth.
          Selah 
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
   let all the peoples praise you. 

The earth has yielded its increase;
   God, our God, has blessed us. 
May God continue to bless us;
   let all the ends of the earth revere him.
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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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