Thursday 5 September 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Thursday 5 September 2024  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Job 16:16-22,17:1,13-16

My face is red with weeping,
   and deep darkness is on my eyelids, 
though there is no violence in my hands,
   and my prayer is pure. 

‘O earth, do not cover my blood;
   let my outcry find no resting-place. 
Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven,
   and he that vouches for me is on high. 
My friends scorn me;
   my eye pours out tears to God, 
that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God,
   as* one does for a neighbour. 
For when a few years have come,
   I shall go the way from which I shall not return.
My spirit is broken, my days are extinct,
   the grave is ready for me. 
If I look for Sheol as my house,
   if I spread my couch in darkness, 
if I say to the Pit, “You are my father”,
   and to the worm, “My mother”, or “My sister”, 
where then is my hope?
   Who will see my hope? 
Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?
   Shall we descend together into the dust?’
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Acts 13:1-12

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a
member of the court of Herod the ruler,* and Saul. While they were
worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart
for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’
Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent
them off.
 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia;
and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis,
they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And
they had John also to assist them. When they had gone through the
whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish
false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius
Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted
to hear the word of God. But the magician Elymas (for that is the
translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul
away from the faith. But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the
Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘You son of the devil,
you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will
you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now
listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind
for a while, unable to see the sun.’ Immediately mist and darkness
came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by
the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for
he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
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John 9:1-17

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked
him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born
blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned;
he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We*
must work the works of him who sent me* while it is day; night is
coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world.’ When he had said this, he spat on the ground
and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,
saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means
Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The
neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask,
‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying,
‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like
him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ But they kept asking him,
‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called
Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam
and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ They
said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’
 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his
sight. He said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and
now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God,
for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a
man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided. So
they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about him? It was
your eyes he opened.’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 37:1-18

Psalm 37:1-18

Do not fret because of the wicked;
   do not be envious of wrongdoers, 
for they will soon fade like the grass,
   and wither like the green herb. 

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
   so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. 
Take delight in the Lord,
   and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord;
   trust in him, and he will act. 
He will make your vindication shine like the light,
   and the justice of your cause like the noonday. 

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
   do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
   over those who carry out evil devices. 

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
   Do not fret—it leads only to evil. 
For the wicked shall be cut off,
   but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. 

Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
   though you look diligently for their place, they will not be
there. 
But the meek shall inherit the land,
   and delight in abundant prosperity. 

The wicked plot against the righteous,
   and gnash their teeth at them; 
but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
   for he sees that their day is coming. 

The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
   to bring down the poor and needy,
   to kill those who walk uprightly; 
their sword shall enter their own heart,
   and their bows shall be broken. 

Better is a little that the righteous person has
   than the abundance of many wicked. 
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
   but the Lord upholds the righteous. 

The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
   and their heritage will abide for ever;
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 37:19-42

Psalm 37:19-42

they are not put to shame in evil times,
   in the days of famine they have abundance. 

But the wicked perish,
   and the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
   they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. 

The wicked borrow, and do not pay back,
   but the righteous are generous and keep giving; 
for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,
   but those cursed by him shall be cut off. 

Our steps* are made firm by the Lord,
   when he delights in our* way; 
though we stumble,* we* shall not fall headlong,
   for the Lord holds us* by the hand. 

I have been young, and now am old,
   yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
   or their children begging bread. 
They are ever giving liberally and lending,
   and their children become a blessing. 

Depart from evil, and do good;
   so you shall abide for ever. 
For the Lord loves justice;
   he will not forsake his faithful ones. 

The righteous shall be kept safe for ever,
   but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 
The righteous shall inherit the land,
   and live in it for ever. 

The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
   and their tongues speak justice. 
The law of their God is in their hearts;
   their steps do not slip. 

The wicked watch for the righteous,
   and seek to kill them. 
The Lord will not abandon them to their power,
   or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial. 

Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way,
   and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
   you will look on the destruction of the wicked. 

I have seen the wicked oppressing,
   and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.* 
Again I* passed by, and they were no more;
   though I sought them, they could not be found. 

Mark the blameless, and behold the upright,
   for there is posterity for the peaceable. 
But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
   the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off. 

The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
   he is their refuge in the time of trouble. 
The Lord helps them and rescues them;
   he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,
   because they take refuge in him.
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