Saturday 27 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 41:1-13<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass. Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke. Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them. The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream. In the morning his spirit was troubled; so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, ‘I remember my faults today. Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each according to his dream. As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1 Corinthians 4:1-7</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they should be found trustworthy. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters,* so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, ‘Nothing beyond what is written’, so that none of you will be puffed up in favour of one against another. For who sees anything different in you?* What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Mark 2:23-3:6</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 55</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 55</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Give ear to my prayer, O God;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not hide yourself from my supplication.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Attend to me, and answer me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I am troubled in my complaint.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am distraught by the noise of the enemy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>because of the clamour of the wicked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For they bring* trouble upon me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and in anger they cherish enmity against me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My heart is in anguish within me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the terrors of death have fallen upon me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fear and trembling come upon me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and horror overwhelms me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And I say, ‘O that I had wings like a dove!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I would fly away and be at rest;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">truly, I would flee far away;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I would lodge in the wilderness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I would hurry to find a shelter for myself</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the raging wind and tempest.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I see violence and strife in the city.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Day and night they go around it</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>on its walls,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and iniquity and trouble are within it;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>ruin is in its midst;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">oppression and fraud</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not depart from its market-place.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is not enemies who taunt me—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I could bear that;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I could hide from them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But it is you, my equal,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my companion, my familiar friend,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">with whom I kept pleasant company;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>we walked in the house of God with the throng.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let death come upon them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let them go down alive to Sheol;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I call upon God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the Lord will save me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening and morning and at noon</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I utter my complaint and moan,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and he will hear my voice.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He will redeem me unharmed</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from the battle that I wage,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for many are arrayed against me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">God, who is enthroned from of old,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>will hear, and will humble them—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">because they do not change,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and do not fear God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My companion laid hands on a friend</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and violated a covenant with me*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">with speech smoother than butter,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but with a heart set on war;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">with words that were softer than oil,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but in fact were drawn swords.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cast your burden* on the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and he will sustain you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">he will never permit</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the righteous to be moved.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But you, O God, will cast them down</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>into the lowest pit;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the bloodthirsty and treacherous</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>shall not live out half their days.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I will trust in you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 138, 139</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 138</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>before the gods I sing your praise;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I bow down towards your holy temple</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you have exalted your name and your word</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>above everything.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On the day I called, you answered me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you increased my strength of soul.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for they have heard the words of your mouth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for great is the glory of the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the haughty he perceives from far away.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though I walk in the midst of trouble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you stretch out your hand,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your right hand delivers me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Do not forsake the work of your hands.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 139</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, you have searched me and known me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You know when I sit down and when I rise up;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you discern my thoughts from far away.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You search out my path and my lying down,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and are acquainted with all my ways.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even before a word is on my tongue,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord, you know it completely.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You hem me in, behind and before,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and lay your hand upon me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>it is so high that I cannot attain it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Where can I go from your spirit?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Or where can I flee from your presence?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I ascend to heaven, you are there;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I take the wings of the morning</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">even there your hand shall lead me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and your right hand shall hold me fast.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the light around me become night’,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">even the darkness is not dark to you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the night is as bright as the day,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for darkness is as light to you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For it was you who formed my inward parts;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you knit me together in my mother’s womb.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Wonderful are your works;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">that I know very well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My frame was not hidden from you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">when I was being made in secret,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>intricately woven in the depths of the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In your book were written</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>all the days that were formed for me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when none of them as yet existed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>How vast is the sum of them!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I try to count them—they are more than the sand;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I come to the end*—I am still with you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O that you would kill the wicked, O God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">those who speak of you maliciously,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and lift themselves up against you for evil!*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hate them with perfect hatred;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I count them my enemies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Search me, O God, and know my heart;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>test me and know my thoughts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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