Sunday 12 September 2010<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span><!--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">Job 38:1,18-41<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Declare, if you know all this.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Where is the way to the dwelling of light,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and where is the place of darkness,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">that you may take it to its territory</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and that you may discern the paths to its home?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Surely you know, for you were born then,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the number of your days is great!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">which I have reserved for the time of trouble,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for the day of battle and war?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and a way for the thunderbolt,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to bring rain on a land where no one lives,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>on the desert, which is empty of human life,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to satisfy the waste and desolate land,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and to make the ground put forth grass?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Has the rain a father,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or who has begotten the drops of dew?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From whose womb did the ice come forth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and who has given birth to the hoar-frost of heaven?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The waters become hard like stone,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the face of the deep is frozen.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or loose the cords of Orion?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or can you guide the Bear with its children?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Can you establish their rule on the earth?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that a flood of waters may cover you?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and say to you, “Here we are”?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or given understanding to the mind?*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">when the dust runs into a mass</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the clods cling together?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Can you hunt the prey for the lion,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">when they crouch in their dens,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or lie in wait in their covert?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who provides for the raven its prey,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when its young ones cry to God,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and wander about for lack of food?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Revelation 18:1-8</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendour. He called out with a mighty voice,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It has become a dwelling-place of demons,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a haunt of every foul spirit,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a haunt of every foul bird,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For all the nations have drunk*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power* of her luxury.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Come out of her, my people,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that you do not take part in her sins,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and so that you do not share in her plagues;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for her sins are heaped high as heaven,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and God has remembered her iniquities.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Render to her as she herself has rendered,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and repay her double for her deeds;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so give her a like measure of torment and grief.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since in her heart she says,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“I rule as a queen;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am no widow,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and I will never see grief”,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">therefore her plagues will come in a single day—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>pestilence and mourning and famine—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and she will be burned with fire;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Matthew 5:21-26</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister,* you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult* a brother or sister,* you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell* of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister* has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister,* and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court* with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 24, 29</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 24</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the world, and those who live in it;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for he has founded it on the seas,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and established it on the rivers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And who shall stand in his holy place?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who do not lift up their souls to what is false,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and do not swear deceitfully.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They will receive blessing from the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and vindication from the God of their salvation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Such is the company of those who seek him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who seek the face of the God of Jacob.*</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">Lift up your heads, O gates!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and be lifted up, O ancient doors!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that the King of glory may come in.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who is the King of glory?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Lord, strong and mighty,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord, mighty in battle.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lift up your heads, O gates!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and be lifted up, O ancient doors!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that the King of glory may come in.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who is this King of glory?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Lord of hosts,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he is the King of glory.</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">Psalm 29</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>worship the Lord in holy splendour.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The voice of the Lord is over the waters;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the God of glory thunders,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord, over mighty waters.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The voice of the Lord is powerful;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and Sirion like a young wild ox.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and strips the forest bare;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May the Lord give strength to his people!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>May the Lord bless his people with peace!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 8, 84</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 8</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, our Sovereign,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>how majestic is your name in all the earth!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have set your glory above the heavens.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Out of the mouths of babes and infants</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to silence 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">When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the moon and the stars that you have established;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">what are human beings that you are mindful of them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>mortals* that you care for them?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet you have made them a little lower than God,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and crowned them with glory and honour.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have put all things under their feet,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">all sheep and oxen,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and also the beasts of the field,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>whatever passes along the paths of the seas.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, our Sovereign,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>how majestic is your name in all the earth!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 84</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How lovely is your dwelling place,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>O Lord of hosts!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My soul longs, indeed it faints</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for the courts of the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my heart and my flesh sing for joy</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to the living God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even the sparrow finds a home,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the swallow a nest for herself,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>where she may lay her young,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">at your altars, O Lord of hosts,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my King and my God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy are those who live in your house,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>ever singing your praise.</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">Happy are those whose strength is in you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in whose heart are the highways to Zion.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As they go through the valley of Baca</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they make it a place of springs;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the early rain also covers it with pools.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They go from strength to strength;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the God of gods will be seen in Zion.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give ear, O God of Jacob!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Selah</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Behold our shield, O God;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>look on the face of your anointed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For a day in your courts is better</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>than a thousand elsewhere.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>than live in the tents of wickedness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the Lord God is a sun and shield;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he bestows favour and honour.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No good thing does the Lord withhold</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>from those who walk uprightly.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord of hosts,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>happy is everyone who trusts in you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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