Monday 1 February 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>
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<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Genesis 19:1-29<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. He said, ‘Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way.’ They said, ‘No; we will spend the night in the square.’ But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them.’ Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, and said, ‘I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.’ But they replied, ‘Stand back!’ And they said, ‘This fellow came here as an alien, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.’ Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near the door to break it down. But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they were unable to find the door.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then the men said to Lot, ‘Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city—bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.’ So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, ‘Up, get out of this place; for the Lord is about to destroy the city.’ But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be consumed in the punishment of the city.’ But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and left him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, they* said, ‘Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, or else you will be consumed.’ And Lot said to them, ‘Oh, no, my lords; your servant has found favour with you, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, for fear the disaster will overtake me and I die. Look, that city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!’ He said to him, ‘Very well, I grant you this favour too, and will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.’ Therefore the city was called Zoar.* The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and towards all the land of the Plain, and saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had settled.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hebrews 11:1-12</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith* our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable* sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith* he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and ‘he was not found, because God had taken him.’ For it was attested before he was taken away that ‘he had pleased God.’ And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised.* Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John 6:27-40</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which* comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 56, 57</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 56</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all day long foes oppress me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my enemies trample on me all day long,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for many fight against me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Most High, when I am afraid,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I put my trust in you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In God, whose word I praise,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in God I trust; I am not afraid;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>what can flesh do to me?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All day long they seek to injure my cause;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all their thoughts are against me for evil.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They stir up strife, they lurk,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they watch my steps.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As they hoped to have my life,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so repay* them for their crime;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have kept count of my tossings;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>put my tears in your bottle.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Are they not in your record?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then my enemies will retreat</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>on the day when I call.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This I know, that* God is for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In God, whose word I praise,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the Lord, whose word I praise,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in God I trust; I am not afraid.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What can a mere mortal do to me?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My vows to you I must perform, O God;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will render thank-offerings to you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For you have delivered my soul from death,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my feet from falling,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">so that I may walk before God</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in the light of life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 57</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for in you my soul takes refuge;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>until the destroying storms pass by.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I cry to God Most High,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to God who fulfils his purpose for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will send from heaven and save me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he will put to shame those who trample on me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I lie down among lions</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that greedily devour* human prey;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">their teeth are spears and arrows,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>their tongues sharp swords.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let your glory be over all the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They set a net for my steps;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my soul was bowed down.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They dug a pit in my path,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but they have fallen into it themselves.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My heart is steadfast, O God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my heart is steadfast.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will sing and make melody.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Awake, my soul!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Awake, O harp and lyre!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will awake the dawn.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will sing praises to you among the nations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your faithfulness extends to the clouds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let your glory be over all the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 64, 65</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 64</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>preserve my life from the dread enemy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the scheming of evildoers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who whet their tongues like swords,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who aim bitter words like arrows,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">shooting from ambush at the blameless;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they shoot suddenly and without fear.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They hold fast to their evil purpose;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they talk of laying snares secretly,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">thinking, ‘Who can see us?*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who can search out our crimes?*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We have thought out a cunningly conceived plot.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>For the human heart and mind are deep.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But God will shoot his arrow at them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they will be wounded suddenly.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin;*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all who see them will shake with horror.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then everyone will fear;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they will tell what God has brought about,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and ponder what he has done.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and take refuge in him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let all the upright in heart glory.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 65</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Praise is due to you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O God, in Zion;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and to you shall vows be performed,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O you who answer prayer!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To you all flesh shall come.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you forgive our transgressions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy are those whom you choose and bring near</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to live in your courts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your holy temple.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O God of our salvation;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you are the hope of all the ends of the earth</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and of the farthest seas.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By your* strength you established the mountains;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you are girded with might.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You silence the roaring of the seas,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the roaring of their waves,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the tumult of the peoples.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You visit the earth and water it,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you greatly enrich it;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the river of God is full of water;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you provide the people with grain,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for so you have prepared it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You water its furrows abundantly,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>settling its ridges,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">softening it with showers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and blessing its growth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You crown the year with your bounty;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your wagon tracks overflow with richness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The pastures of the wilderness overflow,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the hills gird themselves with joy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the valleys deck themselves with grain,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they shout and sing together for joy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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