Wednesday 16 December 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">Zechariah 3:1-10<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan* standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan,* ‘The Lord rebuke you, O Satan!* The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?’ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ And to him he said, ‘See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you in festal apparel.’ And I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him in the apparel; and the angel of the Lord was standing by.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then the angel of the Lord assured Joshua, saying ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. Now listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you! For they are an omen of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch. For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day. On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree.’</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Revelation 4:1-8</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the spirit,* and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and cornelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Holy, holy, holy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the Lord God the Almighty,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who was and is and is to come.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Matthew 24:45-51</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves* their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, “My master is delayed”, and he begins to beat his fellow-slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces* and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 119:49-72</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 119:49-72</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Remember your word to your servant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in which you have made me hope.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is my comfort in my distress,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that your promise gives me life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The arrogant utterly deride me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but I do not turn away from your law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I think of your ordinances from of old,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I take comfort, O Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>those who forsake your law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your statutes have been my songs</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>wherever I make my home.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I remember your name in the night, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and keep your law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This blessing has fallen to me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I have kept your precepts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord is my portion;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I promise to keep your words.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I implore your favour with all my heart;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>be gracious to me according to your promise.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I think of your ways,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I turn my feet to your decrees;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hurry and do not delay</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to keep your commandments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I do not forget your law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At midnight I rise to praise you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because of your righteous ordinances.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am a companion of all who fear you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of those who keep your precepts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>teach me your statutes.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">You have dealt well with your servant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord, according to your word.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Teach me good judgement and knowledge,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I believe in your commandments.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Before I was humbled I went astray,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but now I keep your word.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You are good and do good;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>teach me your statutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The arrogant smear me with lies,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but with my whole heart I keep your precepts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Their hearts are fat and gross,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but I delight in your law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is good for me that I was humbled,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that I might learn your statutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The law of your mouth is better to me</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>than thousands of gold and silver pieces.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 49</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 49</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Hear this, all you peoples;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give ear, all inhabitants of the world,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">both low and high,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>rich and poor together.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My mouth shall speak wisdom;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will incline my ear to a proverb;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Why should I fear in times of trouble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">those who trust in their wealth</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and boast of the abundance of their riches?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>there is no price one can give to God for it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the ransom of life is costly,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and can never suffice,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">that one should live on for ever</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and never see the grave.*</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">When we look at the wise, they die;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>fool and dolt perish together</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and leave their wealth to others.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Their graves* are their homes for ever,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their dwelling-places to all generations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>though they named lands their own.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are like the animals that perish.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Such is the fate of the foolhardy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the end of those* who are pleased with their lot.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Death shall be their shepherd;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">straight to the grave they descend,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and their form shall waste away;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sheol shall be their home.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for he will receive me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Do not be afraid when some become rich,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when the wealth of their houses increases.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For when they die they will carry nothing away;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their wealth will not go down after them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>—for you are praised when you do well for yourself—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they* will go to the company of their ancestors,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who will never again see the light.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are like the animals that perish.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
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