Saturday 29 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">Zechariah 14:12-21</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh shall rot while they are still on their feet; their eyes shall rot in their sockets, and their tongues shall rot in their mouths. On that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of a neighbour, and the hand of one will be raised against the hand of the other; even Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected—gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever animals may be in those camps.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then all who survive of the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year by year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the festival of booths.* If any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain upon them. And if the family of Egypt do not go up and present themselves, then on them shall* come the plague that the Lord inflicts on the nations that do not go up to keep the festival of booths.* Such shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to keep the festival of booths.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ And the cooking-pots in the house of the Lord shall be as holy as* the bowls in front of the altar; and every cooking-pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and use them to boil the flesh of the sacrifice. And there shall no longer be traders* in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Philippians 2:1-11</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was* in Christ Jesus,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who, though he was in the form of God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>did not regard equality with God</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as something to be exploited,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">but emptied himself,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>taking the form of a slave,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>being born in human likeness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And being found in human form,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he humbled himself</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and became obedient to the point of death—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>even death on a cross.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Therefore God also highly exalted him</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and gave him the name</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that is above every name,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so that at the name of Jesus</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>every knee should bend,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in heaven and on earth and under the earth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and every tongue should confess</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that Jesus Christ is Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to the glory of God the Father. ******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Luke 19:41-48</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, ‘It is written,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“My house shall be a house of prayer”;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but you have made it a den of robbers.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Psalm 137:1-9</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 137:1-9</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By the rivers of Babylon—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>there we sat down and there we wept</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when we remembered Zion.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On the willows* there</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>we hung up our harps.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For there our captors</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>asked us for songs,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How could we sing the Lord’s song</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in a foreign land?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I forget you, O Jerusalem,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let my right hand wither!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>if I do not remember you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">if I do not set Jerusalem</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>above my highest joy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the day of Jerusalem’s fall,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">how they said, ‘Tear it down! Tear it down!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Down to its foundations!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O daughter Babylon, you devastator!*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Happy shall they be who pay you back</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>what you have done to us!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy shall they be who take your little ones</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and dash them against the rock!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 104</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 104</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bless the Lord, O my soul.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord my God, you are very great.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You are clothed with honour and majesty,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>wrapped in light as with a garment.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You stretch out the heavens like a tent,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you set the beams of your* chambers on the waters,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you make the clouds your* chariot,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you ride on the wings of the wind,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you make the winds your* messengers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>fire and flame your* ministers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You set the earth on its foundations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that it shall never be shaken.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You cover it with the deep as with a garment;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the waters stood above the mountains.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At your rebuke they flee;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to the place that you appointed for them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You set a boundary that they may not pass,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that they might not again cover the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You make springs gush forth in the valleys;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they flow between the hills,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">giving drink to every wild animal;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the wild asses quench their thirst.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By the streams* the birds of the air have their habitation;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they sing among the branches.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From your lofty abode you water the mountains;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and plants for people to use,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to bring forth food from the earth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and wine to gladden the human heart,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">oil to make the face shine,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and bread to strengthen the human heart.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In them the birds build their nests;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the stork has its home in the fir trees.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The high mountains are for the wild goats;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have made the moon to mark the seasons;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the sun knows its time for setting.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You make darkness, and it is night,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The young lions roar for their prey,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>seeking their food from God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the sun rises, they withdraw</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and lie down in their dens.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">People go out to their work</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and to their labour until the evening.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, how manifold are your works!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In wisdom you have made them all;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the earth is full of your creatures.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yonder is the sea, great and wide,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>creeping things innumerable are there,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>living things both small and great.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There go the ships,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These all look to you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to give them their food in due season;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">when you give to them, they gather it up;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When you hide your face, they are dismayed;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when you take away their breath, they die</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and return to their dust.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When you send forth your spirit,* they are created;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and you renew the face of the ground.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>may the Lord rejoice in his works—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who looks on the earth and it trembles,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who touches the mountains and they smoke.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will sing praise to my God while I have being.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May my meditation be pleasing to him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I rejoice in the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let sinners be consumed from the earth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and let the wicked be no more.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bless the Lord, O my soul.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Praise the Lord!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<!--EndFragment-->