Thursday 26 September 2024 DAILY LECTIONARY

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Thursday 26 September 2024  
DAILY LECTIONARY

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Esther 7:1-10

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the
second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther,
‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And
what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be
fulfilled.’ Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have won your
favour, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given
me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my
request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to
be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as
slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can
compensate for this damage to the king.’* Then King Ahasuerus said
to Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do
this?’ Esther said, ‘A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!’ Then
Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. The king rose from
the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed
to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that the king had
determined to destroy him. When the king returned from the palace
garden to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch
where Esther was reclining; and the king said, ‘Will he even assault
the queen in my presence, in my own house?’ As the words left the
mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one of
the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, ‘Look, the very gallows
that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king,
stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.’ And the king said,
‘Hang him on that.’ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he
had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.
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Acts 19:11-20

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that when the
handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the
sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.
Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord
Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by the
Jesus whom Paul proclaims.’ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named
Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit said to them in reply,
‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’ Then the man
with the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered them all, and so
overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
When this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and
Greeks, everyone was awestruck; and the name of the Lord Jesus was
praised. Also many of those who became believers confessed and
disclosed their practices. A number of those who practised magic
collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of
these books* was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand
silver coins. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
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Luke 4:14-30

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee,
and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He
began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to
the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to
read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He
unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
   because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free, 
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ 
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat
down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he
began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in
your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious
words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s
son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this
proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here
also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at
Capernaum.” ’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is
accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were
many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut
up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over
all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at
Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers* in Israel in the time
of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the
Syrian.’ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with
rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow
of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him
off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his
way.
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Morning Psalms:  Psalm 83, 116, 117

Psalm 83

O God, do not keep silence;
   do not hold your peace or be still, O God! 
Even now your enemies are in tumult;
   those who hate you have raised their heads. 
They lay crafty plans against your people;
   they consult together against those you protect. 
They say, ‘Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
   let the name of Israel be remembered no more.’ 
They conspire with one accord;
   against you they make a covenant— 
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
   Moab and the Hagrites, 
Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
   Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 
Assyria also has joined them;
   they are the strong arm of the children of Lot.
          Selah 

Do to them as you did to Midian,
   as to Sisera and Jabin at the Wadi Kishon, 
who were destroyed at En-dor,
   who became dung for the ground. 
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
   all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 
who said, ‘Let us take the pastures of God
   for our own possession.’ 

O my God, make them like whirling dust,*
   like chaff before the wind. 
As fire consumes the forest,
   as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, 
so pursue them with your tempest
   and terrify them with your hurricane. 
Fill their faces with shame,
   so that they may seek your name, O Lord. 
Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever;
   let them perish in disgrace. 
Let them know that you alone,
   whose name is the Lord,
   are the Most High over all the earth.

Psalm 116

I love the Lord, because he has heard
   my voice and my supplications.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
   therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
The snares of death encompassed me;
   the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
   I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
   ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’ 

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
   our God is merciful.
The Lord protects the simple;
   when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest,
   for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 

For you have delivered my soul from death,
   my eyes from tears,
   my feet from stumbling.
I walk before the Lord
   in the land of the living.
I kept my faith, even when I said,
   ‘I am greatly afflicted’;
I said in my consternation,
   ‘Everyone is a liar.’ 

What shall I return to the Lord
   for all his bounty to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
   and call on the name of the Lord,
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
   is the death of his faithful ones.
O Lord, I am your servant;
   I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
   You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
   and call on the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
   in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 117

Praise the Lord, all you nations!
   Extol him, all you peoples!
For great is his steadfast love towards us,
   and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Praise the Lord!
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Evening Psalms:  Psalm 85, 86

Psalm 85

Lord, you were favourable to your land;
   you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 
You forgave the iniquity of your people;
   you pardoned all their sin.
          Selah 
You withdrew all your wrath;
   you turned from your hot anger. 

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
   and put away your indignation towards us. 
Will you be angry with us for ever?
   Will you prolong your anger to all generations? 
Will you not revive us again,
   so that your people may rejoice in you? 
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
   and grant us your salvation. 

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
   for he will speak peace to his people,
   to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.* 
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
   that his glory may dwell in our land. 

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
   righteousness and peace will kiss each other. 
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
   and righteousness will look down from the sky. 
The Lord will give what is good,
   and our land will yield its increase. 
Righteousness will go before him,
   and will make a path for his steps.

Psalm 86

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
   for I am poor and needy. 
Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
   save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord,
   for to you do I cry all day long. 
Gladden the soul of your servant,
   for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
   abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. 
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
   listen to my cry of supplication. 
In the day of my trouble I call on you,
   for you will answer me. 

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
   nor are there any works like yours. 
All the nations you have made shall come
   and bow down before you, O Lord,
   and shall glorify your name. 
For you are great and do wondrous things;
   you alone are God. 
Teach me your way, O Lord,
   that I may walk in your truth;
   give me an undivided heart to revere your name. 
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
   and I will glorify your name for ever. 
For great is your steadfast love towards me;
   you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. 

O God, the insolent rise up against me;
   a band of ruffians seeks my life,
   and they do not set you before them. 
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 
Turn to me and be gracious to me;
   give your strength to your servant;
   save the child of your serving-maid. 
Show me a sign of your favour,
   so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,
   because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
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