Tuesday 31 March 2009<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>
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<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jeremiah 25:8-17</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, I am going to send for all the tribes of the north, says the Lord, even for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these nations around; I will utterly destroy them, and make them an object of horror and of hissing, and an everlasting disgrace.* And I will banish from them the sound of mirth and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, says the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste. I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall make slaves of them also; and I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. They shall drink and stagger and go out of their minds because of the sword that I am sending among them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it:</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Romans 10:1-13</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Brothers and sisters,* my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that ‘the person who does these things will live by them.’ But the righteousness that comes from faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘The word is near you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>on your lips and in your heart’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because* if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’</p>
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yes"> </span>******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John 9:18-41</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus* to be the Messiah* would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, ‘Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?’ Then they reviled him, saying, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’* He answered, ‘And who is he, sir?* Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord,* I believe.’ And he worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 120, 121, 122, 123</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 120</p>
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<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>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 121</p>
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<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>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 122</p>
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<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>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 123</p>
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<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>
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<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>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: 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">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>
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