Sunday 15 March 2009<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><!--StartFragment-->
<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">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jeremiah 6:9-15</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Thus says the Lord of hosts:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Glean* thoroughly as a vine</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the remnant of Israel;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>over its branches.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">To whom shall I speak and give warning,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that they may hear?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">See, their ears are closed,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they cannot listen.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they take no pleasure in it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I am full of the wrath of the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I am weary of holding it in.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Pour it out on the children in the street,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and on the gatherings of young men as well;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">both husband and wife shall be taken,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the old folk and the very aged.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Their houses shall be turned over to others,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their fields and wives together;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for I will stretch out my hand</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>against the inhabitants of the land,</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">says the Lord.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">For from the least to the greatest of them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>everyone is greedy for unjust gain;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and from prophet to priest,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>everyone deals falsely.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>saying, ‘Peace, peace’,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when there is no peace.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>yet they were not ashamed,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they did not know how to blush.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">says the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1 Corinthians 6:12-20</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">‘All things are lawful for me’, but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful for me’, but I will not be dominated by anything. ‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’,* and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, ‘The two shall be one flesh.’ But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple* of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body. <span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mark 5:1-20</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes.* And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; and he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ Then Jesus* asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spirits* begged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned in the lake.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Then they began to beg Jesus* to leave their neighbourhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus* refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 93, 96</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 93</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He has established the world; it shall never be moved;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your throne is established from of old;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you are from everlasting.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The floods have lifted up, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the floods have lifted up their voice;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the floods lift up their roaring.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>more majestic than the waves* of the sea,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>majestic on high is the Lord!</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Your decrees are very sure;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>holiness befits your house,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord, for evermore.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 96</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">O sing to the Lord a new song;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>sing to the Lord, all the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sing to the Lord, bless his name;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>tell of his salvation from day to day.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Declare his glory among the nations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>his marvellous works among all the peoples.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he is to be revered above all gods.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For all the gods of the peoples are idols,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the Lord made the heavens.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Honour and majesty are before him;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>bring an offering, and come into his courts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Worship the Lord in holy splendour;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>tremble before him, all the earth.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He will judge the peoples with equity.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let the sea roar, and all that fills it;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let the field exult, and everything in it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>before the Lord; for he is coming,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for he is coming to judge the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will judge the world with righteousness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the peoples with his truth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 34</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 34</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I will bless the Lord at all times;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>his praise shall continually be in my mouth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My soul makes its boast in the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let the humble hear and be glad.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O magnify the Lord with me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and let us exalt his name together.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I sought the Lord, and he answered me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and delivered me from all my fears.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Look to him, and be radiant;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so your* faces shall never be ashamed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and was saved from every trouble.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The angel of the Lord encamps</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>around those who fear him, and delivers them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O taste and see that the Lord is good;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>happy are those who take refuge in him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O fear the Lord, you his holy ones,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for those who fear him have no want.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The young lions suffer want and hunger,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Come, O children, listen to me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will teach you the fear of the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Which of you desires life,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and covets many days to enjoy good?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Keep your tongue from evil,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your lips from speaking deceit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Depart from evil, and do good;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>seek peace, and pursue it.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and his ears are open to their cry.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The face of the Lord is against evildoers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and rescues them from all their troubles.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and saves the crushed in spirit.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Many are the afflictions of the righteous,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the Lord rescues them from them all.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He keeps all their bones;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>not one of them will be broken.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evil brings death to the wicked,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord redeems the life of his servants;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
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