Thursday 22 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">Ezra 1:1-11<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared:</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill-offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbours aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered. King Cyrus himself brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. King Cyrus of Persia had them released into the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. And this was the inventory: gold basins, thirty; silver basins, one thousand; knives,* twenty-nine; gold bowls, thirty; other silver bowls, four hundred and ten; other vessels, one thousand; the total of the gold and silver vessels was five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">1 Corinthians 16:1-9</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will visit you after passing through Macedonia—for I intend to pass through Macedonia— and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way, wherever I go. I do not want to see you now just in passing, for I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Matthew 12:15-21</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds* followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will put my Spirit upon him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will not wrangle or cry aloud,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will not break a bruised reed</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or quench a smouldering wick</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">until he brings justice to victory.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 37:1-18</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 37:1-18</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Do not fret because of the wicked;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not be envious of wrongdoers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for they will soon fade like the grass,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and wither like the green herb.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Trust in the Lord, and do good;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Take delight in the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and he will give you the desires of your heart.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Commit your way to the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>trust in him, and he will act.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will make your vindication shine like the light,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the justice of your cause like the noonday.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not fret over those who prosper in their way,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>over those who carry out evil devices.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Do not fret—it leads only to evil.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the wicked shall be cut off,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the meek shall inherit the land,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and delight in abundant prosperity.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The wicked plot against the righteous,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and gnash their teeth at them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">but the Lord laughs at the wicked,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for he sees that their day is coming.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to bring down the poor and needy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to kill those who walk uprightly;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">their sword shall enter their own heart,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and their bows shall be broken.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Better is a little that the righteous person has</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>than the abundance of many wicked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the Lord upholds the righteous.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord knows the days of the blameless,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and their heritage will abide for ever;</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 37:19-42</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 37:19-42</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">they are not put to shame in evil times,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the days of famine they have abundance.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">But the wicked perish,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The wicked borrow, and do not pay back,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the righteous are generous and keep giving;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but those cursed by him shall be cut off.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Our steps* are made firm by the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when he delights in our* way;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">though we stumble,* we* shall not fall headlong,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for the Lord holds us* by the hand.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I have been young, and now am old,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or their children begging bread.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They are ever giving liberally and lending,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and their children become a blessing.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Depart from evil, and do good;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so you shall abide for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the Lord loves justice;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he will not forsake his faithful ones.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The righteous shall be kept safe for ever,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The righteous shall inherit the land,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and live in it for ever.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and their tongues speak justice.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The law of their God is in their hearts;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their steps do not slip.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The wicked watch for the righteous,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and seek to kill them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord will not abandon them to their power,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and he will exalt you to inherit the land;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you will look on the destruction of the wicked.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I have seen the wicked oppressing,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Again I* passed by, and they were no more;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>though I sought them, they could not be found.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Mark the blameless, and behold the upright,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for there is posterity for the peaceable.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he is their refuge in the time of trouble.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord helps them and rescues them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because they take refuge in him.</p>
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