Monday 25 January 2010<!--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">Genesis 14:1-24<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the days of King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim, these kings made war with King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). All these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea).* For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in the hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the edge of the wilderness; then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar. Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim with King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar, four kings against five. Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way; they also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks* of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his nephew Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.* He blessed him and said,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>maker of heaven and earth;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and blessed be God Most High,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything. Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself.’ But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have sworn to the Lord, God Most High,* maker of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, “I have made Abram rich.” I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hebrews 8:1-13</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent* that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one; for Moses, when he was about to erect the tent,* was warned, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.’ But Jesus* has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>God* finds fault with them when he says:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘The days are surely coming, says the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and with the house of Judah;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for they did not continue in my covenant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and so I had no concern for them, says the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>after those days, says the Lord:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will put my laws in their minds,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and write them on their hearts,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and I will be their God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and they shall be my people.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And they shall not teach one another</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or say to each other, “Know the Lord”,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for they shall all know me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the least of them to the greatest.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For I will be merciful towards their iniquities,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I will remember their sins no more.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In speaking of ‘a new covenant’, he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John 4:43-54</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honour in the prophet’s own country). When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you* see signs and wonders you will not believe.’ The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, ‘Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.’ The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 41, 52</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 41</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy are those who consider the poor;*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they are called happy in the land.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in their illness you heal all their infirmities.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for me, I said, ‘O Lord, be gracious to me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>heal me, for I have sinned against you.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My enemies wonder in malice</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when I will die, and my name perish.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And when they come to see me, they utter empty words,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>while their hearts gather mischief;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when they go out, they tell it abroad.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All who hate me whisper together about me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they imagine the worst for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that I will not rise again from where I lie.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and raise me up, that I may repay them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By this I know that you are pleased with me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because my enemy has not triumphed over me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But you have upheld me because of my integrity,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and set me in your presence for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from everlasting to everlasting.Amen and Amen.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 52</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why do you boast, O mighty one,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of mischief done against the godly?*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>All day long you are plotting destruction.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your tongue is like a sharp razor,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you worker of treachery.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You love evil more than good,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and lying more than speaking the truth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You love all words that devour,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O deceitful tongue.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But God will break you down for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he will snatch and tear you from your tent;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he will uproot you from the land of the living.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The righteous will see, and fear,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and will laugh at the evildoer,* saying,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘See the one who would not take</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>refuge in God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">but trusted in abundant riches,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and sought refuge in wealth!’*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I am like a green olive tree</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the house of God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I trust in the steadfast love of God</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for ever and ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will thank you for ever,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because of what you have done.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the presence of the faithful</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will proclaim* your name, for it is good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 44</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 44</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We have heard with our ears, O God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>our ancestors have told us,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">what deeds you performed in their days,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the days of old:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you with your own hand drove out the nations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but them you planted;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you afflicted the peoples,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but them you set free;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for not by their own sword did they win the land,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor did their own arm give them victory;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">but your right hand, and your arm,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the light of your countenance,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you delighted in them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You are my King and my God;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you command* victories for Jacob.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Through you we push down our foes;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>through your name we tread down our assailants.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For not in my bow do I trust,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor can my sword save me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But you have saved us from our foes,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and have put to confusion those who hate us.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In God we have boasted continually,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and we will give thanks to your name for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet you have rejected us and abased us,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and have not gone out with our armies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You made us turn back from the foe,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and our enemies have taken spoil for themselves.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have made us like sheep for slaughter,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and have scattered us among the nations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have sold your people for a trifle,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>demanding no high price for them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have made us the taunt of our neighbours,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the derision and scorn of those around us.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have made us a byword among the nations,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a laughing-stock* among the peoples.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All day long my disgrace is before me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and shame has covered my face</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">at the words of the taunters and revilers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All this has come upon us,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>yet we have not forgotten you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or been false to your covenant.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our heart has not turned back,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>nor have our steps departed from your way,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and covered us with deep darkness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If we had forgotten the name of our God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or spread out our hands to a strange god,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">would not God discover this?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>For he knows the secrets of the heart.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because of you we are being killed all day long,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Awake, do not cast us off for ever!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why do you hide your face?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For we sink down to the dust;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>our bodies cling to the ground.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rise up, come to our help.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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