Saturday 26 September 2009<!--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">2 Kings 11:1-20a<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Now when Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she set about to destroy all the royal family. But Jehosheba, King Joram’s daughter, Ahaziah’s sister, took Joash son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s children who were about to be killed; she put* him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus she* hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not killed; he remained with her for six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But in the seventh year Jehoiada summoned the captains of the Carites and of the guards and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. He made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord; then he showed them the king’s son. He commanded them, ‘This is what you are to do: one-third of you, those who go off duty on the sabbath and guard the king’s house (another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards), shall guard the palace; and your two divisions that come on duty in force on the sabbath and guard the house of the Lord * shall surround the king, each with weapons in hand; and whoever approaches the ranks is to be killed. Be with the king in his comings and goings.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The captains did according to all that the priest Jehoiada commanded; each brought his men who were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the sabbath, and came to the priest Jehoiada. The priest delivered to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord; the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house, to guard the king on every side. Then he brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, and gave him the covenant;* they proclaimed him king, and anointed him; they clapped their hands and shouted, ‘Long live the king!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people; when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to custom, with the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, ‘Treason! Treason!’ Then the priest Jehoiada commanded the captains who were set over the army, ‘Bring her out between the ranks, and kill with the sword anyone who follows her.’ For the priest said, ‘Let her not be killed in the house of the Lord.’ So they laid hands on her; she went through the horses’ entrance to the king’s house, and there she was put to death.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord’s people; also between the king and the people. Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars. The priest posted guards over the house of the Lord. He took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land; then they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the gate of the guards to the king’s house. He took his seat on the throne of the kings. So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been killed with the sword at the king’s house.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">1 Corinthians 7:10-24</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>To the rest I say—I and not the Lord—that if any believer* has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. It is to peace that God has called you.* Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything. Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever.* For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters. In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters,* there remain with God.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Matthew 6:19-24</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust* consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust* consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 87, 90</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 87</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On the holy mount stands the city he founded;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord loves the gates of Zion</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>more than all the dwellings of Jacob.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Glorious things are spoken of you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O city of God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Philistia too, and Tyre, with Ethiopia*—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘This one was born there,’ they say.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">And of Zion it shall be said,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘This one and that one were born in it’;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for the Most High himself will establish it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord records, as he registers the peoples,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘This one was born there.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Singers and dancers alike say,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘All my springs are in you.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 90</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Lord, you have been our dwelling-place*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in all generations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Before the mountains were brought forth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or ever you had formed the earth and the world,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from everlasting to everlasting you are God.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">You turn us* back to dust,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and say, ‘Turn back, you mortals.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For a thousand years in your sight</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>are like yesterday when it is past,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or like a watch in the night.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">You sweep them away; they are like a dream,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>like grass that is renewed in the morning;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the evening it fades and withers.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">For we are consumed by your anger;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>by your wrath we are overwhelmed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have set our iniquities before you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>our secret sins in the light of your countenance.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">For all our days pass away under your wrath;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>our years come to an end* like a sigh.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The days of our life are seventy years,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">even then their span* is only toil and trouble;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are soon gone, and we fly away.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Who considers the power of your anger?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due to you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So teach us to count our days</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that we may gain a wise heart.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Turn, O Lord! How long?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Have compassion on your servants!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and for as many years as we have seen evil.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let your work be manifest to your servants,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your glorious power to their children.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and prosper for us the work of our hands—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O prosper the work of our hands!</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 136</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 136</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O give thanks to the God of gods,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O give thanks to the Lord of lords,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who alone does great wonders,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who by understanding made the heavens,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who spread out the earth on the waters,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who made the great lights,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the sun to rule over the day,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the moon and stars to rule over the night,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who struck Egypt through their firstborn,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and brought Israel out from among them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who divided the Red Sea* in two,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and made Israel pass through the midst of it,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who led his people through the wilderness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who struck down great kings,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and killed famous kings,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sihon, king of the Amorites,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and Og, king of Bashan,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and gave their land as a heritage,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a heritage to his servant Israel,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">It is he who remembered us in our low estate,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and rescued us from our foes,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who gives food to all flesh,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">O give thanks to the God of heaven,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for his steadfast love endures for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
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