Wednesday 27 August 2008<span style="mso-spacerun:
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<p class="MsoNormal">DAILY LECTIONARY</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Job 6:1, 7:1-21</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then Job answered:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Do not human beings have a hard service on earth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and are not their days like the days of a labourer?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like a slave who longs for the shadow,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and like labourers who look for their wages,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so I am allotted months of emptiness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and nights of misery are apportioned to me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I lie down I say, “When shall I rise?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But the night is long,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I am full of tossing until dawn.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my skin hardens, then breaks out again.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and come to their end without hope.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Remember that my life is a breath;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my eye will never again see good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The eye that beholds me will see me no more;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the cloud fades and vanishes,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so those who go down to Sheol do not come up;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they return no more to their houses,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor do their places know them any more.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Am I the Sea, or the Dragon,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that you set a guard over me?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I say, “My bed will comfort me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my couch will ease my complaint”,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">then you scare me with dreams</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and terrify me with visions,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so that I would choose strangling</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and death rather than this body.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I loathe my life; I would not live for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let me alone, for my days are a breath.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What are human beings, that you make so much of them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that you set your mind on them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">visit them every morning,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>test them every moment?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Will you not look away from me for a while,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let me alone until I swallow my spittle?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Why have you made me your target?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Why have I become a burden to you?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why do you not pardon my transgression</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and take away my iniquity?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For now I shall lie in the earth;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you will seek me, but I shall not be.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Acts 10:1-16</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius.’ He stared at him in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ He answered, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.’ When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.’ The voice said to him again, a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John 7:1-13</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish* to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths* was near. So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants* to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.’ (For not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not* going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.’ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were* in secret. The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, ‘Where is he?’ And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, ‘He is a good man’, others were saying, ‘No, he is deceiving the crowd.’ Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 119:1-24</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 119:1-24</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy are those whose way is blameless,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who walk in the law of the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy are those who keep his decrees,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who seek him with their whole heart,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who also do no wrong,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but walk in his ways.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have commanded your precepts</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to be kept diligently.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O that my ways may be steadfast</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in keeping your statutes!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then I shall not be put to shame,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will praise you with an upright heart,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when I learn your righteous ordinances.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will observe your statutes;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not utterly forsake me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How can young people keep their way pure?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>By guarding it according to your word.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With my whole heart I seek you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not let me stray from your commandments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I treasure your word in my heart,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that I may not sin against you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blessed are you, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>teach me your statutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With my lips I declare</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the ordinances of your mouth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I delight in the way of your decrees</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as much as in all riches.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will meditate on your precepts,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and fix my eyes on your ways.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will delight in your statutes;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will not forget your word.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Deal bountifully with your servant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that I may live and observe your word.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Open my eyes, so that I may behold</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>wondrous things out of your law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I live as an alien in the land;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not hide your commandments from me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My soul is consumed with longing</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for your ordinances at all times.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who wander from your commandments;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">take away from me their scorn and contempt,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I have kept your decrees.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even though princes sit plotting against me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your servant will meditate on your statutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your decrees are my delight,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are my counsellors.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 12, 13, 14</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 12</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the faithful have disappeared from humankind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They utter lies to each other;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the tongue that makes great boasts,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">those who say, ‘With our tongues we will prevail;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>our lips are our own—who is our master?’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will now rise up,’ says the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘I will place them in the safety for which they long.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>silver refined in a furnace on the ground,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>purified seven times.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You, O Lord, will protect us;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you will guard us from this generation for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On every side the wicked prowl,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as vileness is exalted among humankind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 13</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>How long will you hide your face from me?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How long must I bear pain* in my soul,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and have sorrow in my heart all day long?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and my enemy will say, ‘I have prevailed’;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I trusted in your steadfast love;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will sing to the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because he has dealt bountifully with me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 14</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>there is no one who does good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to see if there are any who are wise,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who seek after God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>there is no one who does good,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>no, not one.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who eat up my people as they eat bread,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and do not call upon the Lord?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There they shall be in great terror,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for God is with the company of the righteous.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You would confound the plans of the poor,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the Lord is their refuge.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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