Saturday 28 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">Micah 7:11-20<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A day for the building of your walls!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In that day the boundary shall be far extended.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In that day they will come to you</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from Assyria to* Egypt,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and from Egypt to the River,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the earth will be desolate</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because of its inhabitants,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for the fruit of their doings.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Shepherd your people with your staff,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the flock that belongs to you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">which lives alone in a forest</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the midst of a garden land;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">let them feed in Bashan and Gilead</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as in the days of old.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>show us* marvellous things.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The nations shall see and be ashamed</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of all their might;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they shall lay their hands on their mouths;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their ears shall be deaf;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they shall lick dust like a snake,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>like the crawling things of the earth;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they shall come trembling out of their fortresses;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and they shall stand in fear of you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and passing over the transgression</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of the remnant of your* possession?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He does not retain his anger for ever,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because he delights in showing clemency.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will again have compassion upon us;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he will tread our iniquities under foot.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You will cast all our* sins</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>into the depths of the sea.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You will show faithfulness to Jacob</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and unswerving loyalty to Abraham,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">as you have sworn to our ancestors</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the days of old.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1 Peter 4:7-19</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The end of all things is near;* therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory,* which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.* But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief-maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgement to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Matthew 20:29-34</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, ‘Lord,* have mercy on us, Son of David!’ The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet; but they shouted even more loudly, ‘Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!’ Jesus stood still and called them, saying, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, let our eyes be opened.’ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 137:1-9, 144</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 137:1-9</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 144</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 104</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 104</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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>and you renew the face of the ground.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<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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