Saturday 8 November 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">Ecclesiasticus 51:1-12</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I give you thanks, O Lord and King,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and praise you, O God my Saviour.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I give thanks to your name,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you have been my protector and helper</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and have delivered me from destruction</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and from the trap laid by a slanderous tongue,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from lips that fabricate lies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the face of my adversaries</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have been my helper and delivered me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the greatness of your mercy and of your name,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">from grinding teeth about to devour me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the hand of those seeking my life,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the many troubles I endured,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">from choking fire on every side,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and from the midst of fire that I had not kindled,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">from the deep belly of Hades,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from an unclean tongue and lying words—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the slander of an unrighteous tongue to the king.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My soul drew near to death,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my life was on the brink of Hades below.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They surrounded me on every side,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and there was no one to help me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I looked for human assistance,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and there was none.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then I remembered your mercy, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your kindness* from of old,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for you rescue those who wait for you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and save them from the hand of their enemies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And I sent up my prayer from the earth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and begged for rescue from death.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I cried out, ‘Lord, you are my Father;*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not forsake me in the days of trouble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when there is no help against the proud.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will praise your name continually,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and will sing hymns of thanksgiving.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My prayer was heard,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you saved me from destruction</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and rescued me in time of trouble.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For this reason I thank you and praise you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I bless the name of the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Revelation 18:1-14</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendour. He called out with a mighty voice,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It has become a dwelling-place of demons,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a haunt of every foul spirit,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a haunt of every foul bird,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For all the nations have drunk*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power* of her luxury.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Come out of her, my people,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that you do not take part in her sins,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and so that you do not share in her plagues;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for her sins are heaped high as heaven,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and God has remembered her iniquities.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Render to her as she herself has rendered,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and repay her double for her deeds;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so give her a like measure of torment and grief.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since in her heart she says,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“I rule as a queen;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am no widow,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I will never see grief”,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">therefore her plagues will come in a single day—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>pestilence and mourning and famine—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and she will be burned with fire;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Alas, alas, the great city,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Babylon, the mighty city!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For in one hour your judgement has come.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves—and human lives.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘The fruit for which your soul longed</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>has gone from you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and all your dainties and your splendour</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>are lost to you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>never to be found again!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Luke 14:1-11</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On one occasion when Jesus* was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, ‘Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?’ But they were silent. So Jesus* took him and healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, ‘If one of you has a child* or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?’ And they could not reply to this.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 75, 76</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 75</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We give thanks to you, O God;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>we give thanks; your name is near.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">People tell of your wondrous deeds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the set time that I appoint</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will judge with equity.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>it is I who keep its pillars steady.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast’,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">do not lift up your horn on high,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or speak with insolent neck.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For not from the east or from the west</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and not from the wilderness comes lifting up;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">but it is God who executes judgement,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>putting down one and lifting up another.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with foaming wine, well mixed;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">he will pour a draught from it,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and all the wicked of the earth</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>shall drain it down to the dregs.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I will rejoice* for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 76</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In Judah God is known,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>his name is great in Israel.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">His abode has been established in Salem,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>his dwelling-place in Zion.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There he broke the flashing arrows,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Glorious are you, more majestic</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>than the everlasting mountains.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The stout-hearted were stripped of their spoil;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they sank into sleep;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">none of the troops</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>was able to lift a hand.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>both rider and horse lay stunned.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But you indeed are awesome!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who can stand before you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when once your anger is roused?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From the heavens you uttered judgement;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the earth feared and was still</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">when God rose up to establish judgement,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to save all the oppressed of the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Human wrath serves only to praise you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when you bind the last bit of your* wrath around you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Make vows to the Lord your God, and perform them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let all who are around him bring gifts</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to the one who is awesome,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who cuts off the spirit of princes,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who inspires fear in the kings of the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 23, 27</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 23</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He makes me lie down in green pastures;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">he leads me beside still waters;*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he restores my soul.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He leads me in right paths*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his name’s sake.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even though I walk through the darkest valley,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I fear no evil;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for you are with me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your rod and your staff—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they comfort me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You prepare a table before me</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the presence of my enemies;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you anoint my head with oil;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my cup overflows.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Surely* goodness and mercy* shall follow me</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the days of my life,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my whole life long.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 27</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is my light and my salvation;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>whom shall I fear?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is the stronghold* of my life;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of whom shall I be afraid?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When evildoers assail me</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to devour my flesh—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my adversaries and foes—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they shall stumble and fall.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though an army encamp against me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my heart shall not fear;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">though war rise up against me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>yet I will be confident.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One thing I asked of the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that will I seek after:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to live in the house of the Lord</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the days of my life,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to behold the beauty of the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and to inquire in his temple.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For he will hide me in his shelter</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the day of trouble;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he will set me high on a rock.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now my head is lifted up</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>above my enemies all around me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and I will offer in his tent</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>sacrifices with shouts of joy;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will sing and make melody to the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>be gracious to me and answer me!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his face!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Your face, Lord, do I seek.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Do not hide your face from me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not turn your servant away in anger,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you who have been my help.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not cast me off, do not forsake me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O God of my salvation!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If my father and mother forsake me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord will take me up.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Teach me your way, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and lead me on a level path</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because of my enemies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for false witnesses have risen against me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and they are breathing out violence.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the land of the living.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wait for the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>be strong, and let your heart take courage;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>wait for the Lord!</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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