Saturday 10 October 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">Jeremiah 35:1-19<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah: Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink. So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites. I brought them to the house of the Lord into the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, ‘Have some wine.’ But they answered, ‘We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, “You shall never drink wine, neither you nor your children; nor shall you ever build a house, or sow seed; nor shall you plant a vineyard, or even own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you reside.” We have obeyed the charge of our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, and our daughters, and not to build houses to live in. We have no vineyard or field or seed; but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done all that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. But when King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said, “Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.” That is why we are living in Jerusalem.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? says the Lord. The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine; and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, and you have not obeyed me. I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now everyone of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.’ But you did not incline your ear or obey me. The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command that their ancestor gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,* but do not have love, I gain nothing.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Matthew 9:35-10:4</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then Jesus* summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;* Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 137:1-9, 144</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 137:1-9</p>
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<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>
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<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>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 144</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Blessed be the Lord, my rock,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my rock* and my fortress,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my stronghold and my deliverer,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my shield, in whom I take refuge,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who subdues the peoples* under me.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, what are human beings that you regard them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or mortals that you think of them?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They are like a breath;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their days are like a passing shadow.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>touch the mountains so that they smoke.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Make the lightning flash and scatter them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>send out your arrows and rout them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Stretch out your hand from on high;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the hand of aliens,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">whose mouths speak lies,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and whose right hands are false.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will sing a new song to you, O God;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the one who gives victory to kings,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who rescues his servant David.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rescue me from the cruel sword,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and deliver me from the hand of aliens,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">whose mouths speak lies,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and whose right hands are false.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May our sons in their youth</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>be like plants full grown,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">our daughters like corner pillars,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>cut for the building of a palace.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May our barns be filled</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with produce of every kind;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">may our sheep increase by thousands,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>by tens of thousands in our fields,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and may our cattle be heavy with young.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May there be no breach in the walls,* no exile,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and no cry of distress in our streets.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>happy are the people whose God is the Lord.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 104</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 104</p>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and you renew the face of the ground.</p>
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<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>
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