Tuesday 7 October 2008<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><!--StartFragment-->
<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">Micah 1:1-9</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hear, you peoples, all of you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>listen, O earth, and all that is in it;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and let the Lord God be a witness against you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord from his holy temple.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For lo, the Lord is coming out of his place,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then the mountains will melt under him</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the valleys will burst open,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">like wax near the fire,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>like waters poured down a steep place.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All this is for the transgression of Jacob</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and for the sins of the house of Israel.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What is the transgression of Jacob?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Is it not Samaria?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And what is the high place* of Judah?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Is it not Jerusalem?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a place for planting vineyards.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will pour down her stones into the valley,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and uncover her foundations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All her images shall be beaten to pieces,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all her wages shall be burned with fire,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and all her idols I will lay waste;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for as the wages of a prostitute she gathered them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and as the wages of a prostitute they shall again be used.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For this I will lament and wail;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will go barefoot and naked;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will make lamentation like the jackals,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and mourning like the ostriches.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For her wound* is incurable.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It has come to Judah;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">it has reached to the gate of my people,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to Jerusalem.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Acts 23:12-24</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the morning the Jews joined in a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who joined in this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, ‘We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food until we have killed Paul. Now then, you and the council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you, on the pretext that you want to make a more thorough examination of his case. And we are ready to do away with him before he arrives.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush; so he went and gained entrance to the barracks and told Paul. Paul called one of the centurions and said, ‘Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to report to him.’ So he took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, ‘The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you; he has something to tell you.’ The tribune took him by the hand, drew him aside privately, and asked, ‘What is it that you have to report to me?’ He answered, ‘The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more thoroughly into his case. But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him. They have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they kill him. They are ready now and are waiting for your consent.’ So the tribune dismissed the young man, ordering him, ‘Tell no one that you have informed me of this.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then he summoned two of the centurions and said, ‘Get ready to leave by nine o’clock tonight for Caesarea with two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen. Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Felix the governor.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Luke 7:1-17</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After Jesus* had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’ When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Soon afterwards* he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus* gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 120, 121, 122, 123</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 120</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In my distress I cry to the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that he may answer me:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Deliver me, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from lying lips,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from a deceitful tongue.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What shall be given to you?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And what more shall be done to you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you deceitful tongue?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A warrior’s sharp arrows,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with glowing coals of the broom tree!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that I must live among the tents of Kedar.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Too long have I had my dwelling</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>among those who hate peace.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am for peace;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but when I speak,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are for war.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 121</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I lift up my eyes to the hills—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from where will my help come?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My help comes from the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who made heaven and earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will not let your foot be moved;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he who keeps you will not slumber.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He who keeps Israel</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>will neither slumber nor sleep.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is your keeper;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord is your shade at your right hand.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The sun shall not strike you by day,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor the moon by night.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord will keep you from all evil;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he will keep your life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord will keep</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your going out and your coming in</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from this time on and for evermore.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 122</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was glad when they said to me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our feet are standing</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>within your gates, O Jerusalem.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jerusalem—built as a city</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that is bound firmly together.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To it the tribes go up,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the tribes of the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">as was decreed for Israel,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to give thanks to the name of the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For there the thrones for judgement were set up,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the thrones of the house of David.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘May they prosper who love you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Peace be within your walls,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and security within your towers.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the sake of my relatives and friends</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will seek your good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 123</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To you I lift up my eyes,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O you who are enthroned in the heavens!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the eyes of servants</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>look to the hand of their master,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">as the eyes of a maid</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to the hand of her mistress,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so our eyes look to the Lord our God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>until he has mercy upon us.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for we have had more than enough of contempt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our soul has had more than its fill</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of the scorn of those who are at ease,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of the contempt of the proud.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 124, 125, 126, 127</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 124</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If it had not been the Lord who was on our side</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>—let Israel now say—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when our enemies attacked us,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">then they would have swallowed us up alive,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when their anger was kindled against us;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">then the flood would have swept us away,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the torrent would have gone over us;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">then over us would have gone</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the raging waters.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blessed be the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who has not given us</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as prey to their teeth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We have escaped like a bird</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the snare of the fowlers;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the snare is broken,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and we have escaped.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our help is in the name of the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who made heaven and earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 125</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the mountains surround Jerusalem,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so the Lord surrounds his people,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from this time on and for evermore.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>on the land allotted to the righteous,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so that the righteous may not stretch out</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their hands to do wrong.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and to those who are upright in their hearts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord will lead away with evildoers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Peace be upon Israel!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 126</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>we were like those who dream.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then our mouth was filled with laughter,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and our tongue with shouts of joy;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">then it was said among the nations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘The Lord has done great things for them.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord has done great things for us,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and we rejoiced.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Restore our fortunes, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>like the watercourses in the Negeb.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May those who sow in tears</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>reap with shouts of joy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who go out weeping,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>bearing the seed for sowing,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">shall come home with shouts of joy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>carrying their sheaves.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 127</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unless the Lord builds the house,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>those who build it labour in vain.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unless the Lord guards the city,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the guard keeps watch in vain.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is in vain that you rise up early</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and go late to rest,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">eating the bread of anxious toil;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for he gives sleep to his beloved.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the fruit of the womb a reward.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like arrows in the hand of a warrior</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>are the sons of one’s youth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy is the man who has</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>his quiver full of them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He shall not be put to shame</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.</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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