Monday 19 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 44:1-14<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Judeans living in the land of Egypt, at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You yourselves have seen all the disaster that I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Look at them; today they are a desolation, without an inhabitant in them, because of the wickedness that they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they had not known, neither they, nor you, nor your ancestors. Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘I beg you not to do this abominable thing that I hate!’ But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their wickedness and make no offerings to other gods. So my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they became a waste and a desolation, as they still are today. And now, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves, to cut off man and woman, child and infant, from the midst of Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant? Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to settle? Will you be cut off and become an object of cursing and ridicule among all the nations of the earth? Have you forgotten the crimes of your ancestors, of the kings of Judah, of their* wives, your own crimes and those of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? They have shown no contrition or fear to this day, nor have they walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your ancestors.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am determined to bring disaster on you, to bring all Judah to an end. I will take the remnant of Judah who are determined to come to the land of Egypt to settle, and they shall perish, everyone; in the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine they shall perish; from the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine; and they shall become an object of execration and horror, of cursing and ridicule. I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to settle in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive or return to the land of Judah. Although they long to go back to live there, they shall not go back, except some fugitives.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">1 Corinthians 15:30-41</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour? I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters,* as my boasting of you—a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord. If with merely human hopes I fought with wild animals at Ephesus, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Let us eat and drink,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for tomorrow we die.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not be deceived:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Bad company ruins good morals.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Matthew 11:16-24</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>we wailed, and you did not mourn.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">will you be exalted to heaven?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>No, you will be brought down to Hades.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 25</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 25</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O my God, in you I trust;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not let me be put to shame;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not let my enemies exult over me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Make me to know your ways, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>teach me your paths.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lead me in your truth, and teach me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you are the God of my salvation;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you I wait all day long.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for they have been from of old.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>according to your steadfast love remember me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Good and upright is the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>therefore he instructs sinners in the way.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He leads the humble in what is right,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and teaches the humble his way.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">For your name’s sake, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>pardon my guilt, for it is great.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who are they that fear the Lord?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He will teach them the way that they should choose.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They will abide in prosperity,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and their children shall possess the land.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and he makes his covenant known to them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My eyes are ever towards the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for he will pluck my feet out of the net.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Turn to me and be gracious to me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I am lonely and afflicted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Relieve the troubles of my heart,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and bring me* out of my distress.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Consider my affliction and my trouble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and forgive all my sins.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Consider how many are my foes,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and with what violent hatred they hate me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O guard my life, and deliver me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May integrity and uprightness preserve me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I wait for you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Redeem Israel, O God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>out of all its troubles.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 9, 15</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 9</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will be glad and exult in you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">When my enemies turned back,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they stumbled and perished before you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For you have maintained my just cause;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgement.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their cities you have rooted out;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the very memory of them has perished.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the Lord sits enthroned for ever,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he has established his throne for judgement.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He judges the world with righteousness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he judges the peoples with equity.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a stronghold in times of trouble.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And those who know your name put their trust in you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Declare his deeds among the peoples.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Be gracious to me, O Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>See what I suffer from those who hate me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so that I may recount all your praises,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and, in the gates of daughter Zion,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>rejoice in your deliverance.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgement;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Higgaion. Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The wicked shall depart to Sheol,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the nations that forget God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the needy shall not always be forgotten,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor the hope of the poor perish for ever.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Rise up, O Lord! Do not let mortals prevail;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let the nations be judged before you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Put them in fear, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let the nations know that they are only human.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 15</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, who may abide in your tent?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who may dwell on your holy hill?</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and speak the truth from their heart;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who do not slander with their tongue,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and do no evil to their friends,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor take up a reproach against their neighbours;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in whose eyes the wicked are despised,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but who honour those who fear the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who stand by their oath even to their hurt;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who do not lend money at interest,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and do not take a bribe against the innocent.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who do these things shall never be moved.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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