Wednesday 19 November 2008<span style="mso-spacerun:
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<p class="MsoNormal">DAILY LECTIONARY</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Email Evangelism, forward to a friend: http://www.dailylectionary.org</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Malachi 1:1,6-14</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">An oracle. The word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.*</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A son honours his father, and servants their master. If then I am a father, where is the honour due to me? And if I am a master, where is the respect due to me? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. You say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food on my altar. And you say, ‘How have we polluted it?’* By thinking that the Lord’s table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not wrong? Try presenting that to your governor; will he be pleased with you or show you favour? says the Lord of hosts. And now implore the favour of God, that he may be gracious to us. The fault is yours. Will he show favour to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. O that someone among you would shut the temple* doors, so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and the food for it* may be despised. ‘What a weariness this is’, you say, and you sniff at me,* says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in the flock and vows to give it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished; for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is reverenced among the nations.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">James 3:13-4:12</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for* those who make peace.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet* something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God* yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘God opposes the proud,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but gives grace to the humble.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters.* Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbour?</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Luke 17:11-19</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On the way to Jerusalem Jesus* was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers* approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’* feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 101, 109:1-30</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 101</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I will sing of loyalty and of justice;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to you, O Lord, I will sing.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will study the way that is blameless.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When shall I attain it?</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I will walk with integrity of heart</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>within my house;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will not set before my eyes</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>anything that is base.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I hate the work of those who fall away;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>it shall not cling to me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perverseness of heart shall be far from me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will know nothing of evil.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">One who secretly slanders a neighbour</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will destroy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A haughty look and an arrogant heart</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will not tolerate.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I will look with favour on the faithful in the land,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that they may live with me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">whoever walks in the way that is blameless</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>shall minister to me.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">No one who practises deceit</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>shall remain in my house;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">no one who utters lies</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>shall continue in my presence.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning by morning I will destroy</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the wicked in the land,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">cutting off all evildoers</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the city of the Lord.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 109:1-30</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Do not be silent, O God of my praise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>speaking against me with lying tongues.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They beset me with words of hate,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and attack me without cause.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In return for my love they accuse me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>even while I make prayer for them.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So they reward me evil for good,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and hatred for my love.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">They say,* ‘Appoint a wicked man against him;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let an accuser stand on his right.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When he is tried, let him be found guilty;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let his prayer be counted as sin.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May his days be few;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>may another seize his position.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May his children be orphans,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and his wife a widow.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May his children wander about and beg;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>may they be driven out of* the ruins they inhabit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May the creditor seize all that he has;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May there be no one to do him a kindness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor anyone to pity his orphaned children.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May his posterity be cut off;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>may his name be blotted out in the second generation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May the iniquity of his father* be remembered before the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let them be before the Lord continually,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and may his* memory be cut off from the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For he did not remember to show kindness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but pursued the poor and needy</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the broken-hearted to their death.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He loved to curse; let curses come on him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He did not like blessing; may it be far from him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He clothed himself with cursing as his coat,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>may it soak into his body like water,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>like oil into his bones.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May it be like a garment that he wraps around himself,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>like a belt that he wears every day.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">May that be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of those who speak evil against my life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But you, O Lord my Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>act on my behalf for your name’s sake;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For I am poor and needy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my heart is pierced within me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am gone like a shadow at evening;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I am shaken off like a locust.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My knees are weak through fasting;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my body has become gaunt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am an object of scorn to my accusers;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when they see me, they shake their heads.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Help me, O Lord my God!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Save me according to your steadfast love.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let them know that this is your hand;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you, O Lord, have done it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let them curse, but you will bless.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let my assailants be put to shame;* may your servant be glad.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May my accusers be clothed with dishonour;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will praise him in the midst of the throng.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For he stands at the right hand of the needy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to save them from those who would condemn them to death.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 119:121-144</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 119:121-144</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I have done what is just and right;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not leave me to my oppressors.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Guarantee your servant’s well-being;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not let the godless oppress me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My eyes fail from watching for your salvation,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and for the fulfilment of your righteous promise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and teach me your statutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am your servant; give me understanding,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that I may know your decrees.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is time for the Lord to act,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for your law has been broken.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Truly I love your commandments</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>more than gold, more than fine gold.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Truly I direct my steps by all your precepts;*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I hate every false way.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Your decrees are wonderful;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>therefore my soul keeps them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The unfolding of your words gives light;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>it imparts understanding to the simple.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With open mouth I pant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because I long for your commandments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Turn to me and be gracious to me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as is your custom towards those who love your name.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Keep my steps steady according to your promise,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and never let iniquity have dominion over me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Redeem me from human oppression,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that I may keep your precepts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Make your face shine upon your servant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and teach me your statutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My eyes shed streams of tears</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because your law is not kept.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">You are righteous, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your judgements are right.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have appointed your decrees in righteousness</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and in all faithfulness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My zeal consumes me</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because my foes forget your words.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your promise is well tried,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your servant loves it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am small and despised,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>yet I do not forget your precepts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your law is the truth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Trouble and anguish have come upon me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but your commandments are my delight.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your decrees are righteous for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give me understanding that I may live.</p>
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