Wednesday 25 November 2009<!--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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Obadiah 15-21<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the day of the Lord is near against all the nations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As you have done, it shall be done to you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your deeds shall return on your own head.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the nations around you shall drink;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they shall drink and gulp down,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and shall be as though they had never been.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But on Mount Zion there shall be those that escape,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and it shall be holy;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and the house of Jacob shall take possession of those who dispossessed them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The house of Jacob shall be a fire,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the house of Joseph a flame,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the house of Esau stubble;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they shall burn them and consume them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for the Lord has spoken.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and those of the Shephelah the land of the Philistines;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>shall possess* Phoenicia as far as Zarephath;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>shall possess the towns of the Negeb.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who have been saved* shall go up to Mount Zion</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to rule Mount Esau;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1 Peter 2:1-10</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built* into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a cornerstone chosen and precious;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and whoever believes in him* will not be put to shame.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘The stone that the builders rejected</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>has become the very head of the corner’,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘A stone that makes them stumble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and a rock that makes them fall.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,* in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once you were not a people,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but now you are God’s people;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">once you had not received mercy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but now you have received mercy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Matthew 19:23-30</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold,* and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 119:145-176</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 119:145-176</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will keep your statutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I cry to you; save me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that I may observe your decrees.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I rise before dawn and cry for help;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I put my hope in your words.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My eyes are awake before each watch of the night,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that I may meditate on your promise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In your steadfast love hear my voice;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord, in your justice preserve my life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who persecute me with evil purpose draw near;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are far from your law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet you are near, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and all your commandments are true.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Long ago I learned from your decrees</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that you have established them for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Look on my misery and rescue me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I do not forget your law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Plead my cause and redeem me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give me life according to your promise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Salvation is far from the wicked,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for they do not seek your statutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Great is your mercy, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give me life according to your justice.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>yet I do not swerve from your decrees.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I look at the faithless with disgust,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because they do not keep your commands.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Consider how I love your precepts;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>preserve my life according to your steadfast love.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The sum of your word is truth;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and every one of your righteous ordinances endures for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Princes persecute me without cause,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but my heart stands in awe of your words.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I rejoice at your word</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>like one who finds great spoil.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hate and abhor falsehood,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but I love your law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Seven times a day I praise you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for your righteous ordinances.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Great peace have those who love your law;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nothing can make them stumble.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hope for your salvation, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I fulfil your commandments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My soul keeps your decrees;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I love them exceedingly.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I keep your precepts and decrees,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for all my ways are before you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let my cry come before you, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give me understanding according to your word.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let my supplication come before you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>deliver me according to your promise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My lips will pour forth praise,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because you teach me your statutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My tongue will sing of your promise,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for all your commandments are right.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let your hand be ready to help me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I have chosen your precepts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I long for your salvation, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your law is my delight.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let me live that I may praise you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and let your ordinances help me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek out your servant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I do not forget your commandments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 128, 129, 130</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 128</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who walks in his ways.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your wife will be like a fruitful vine</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>within your house;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">your children will be like olive shoots</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>around your table.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thus shall the man be blessed</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who fears the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord bless you from Zion.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the days of your life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May you see your children’s children.</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 129</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Often have they attacked me from my youth’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>—let Israel now say—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘often have they attacked me from my youth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>yet they have not prevailed against me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who plough ploughed on my back;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they made their furrows long.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is righteous;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he has cut the cords of the wicked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May all who hate Zion</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>be put to shame and turned back.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let them be like the grass on the housetops</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that withers before it grows up,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">with which reapers do not fill their hands</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or binders of sheaves their arms,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">while those who pass by do not say,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘The blessing of the Lord be upon you!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We bless you in the name of the Lord!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 130</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Lord, hear my voice!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let your ears be attentive</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to the voice of my supplications!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Lord, who could stand?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But there is forgiveness with you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that you may be revered.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and in his word I hope;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my soul waits for the Lord</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>more than those who watch for the morning,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>more than those who watch for the morning.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Israel, hope in the Lord!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>For with the Lord there is steadfast love,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and with him is great power to redeem.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is he who will redeem Israel</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from all its iniquities.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<!--EndFragment-->