Monday 15 November 2010<span style="mso-spacerun:
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<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">Habakkuk 2:1-4,9-20<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will stand at my watch-post,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and station myself on the rampart;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and what he* will answer concerning my complaint.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then the Lord answered me and said:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Write the vision;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>make it plain on tablets,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that a runner may read it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For there is still a vision for the appointed time;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>it speaks of the end, and does not lie.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If it seems to tarry, wait for it;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>it will surely come, it will not delay.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Look at the proud!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Their spirit is not right in them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>but the righteous live by their faith.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Alas for you who get evil gain for your houses,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>setting your nest on high</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to be safe from the reach of harm!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have devised shame for your house</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>by cutting off many peoples;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have forfeited your life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The very stones will cry out from the wall,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the plaster* will respond from the woodwork.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and found a city on iniquity!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Is it not from the Lord of hosts</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>that peoples labour only to feed the flames,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and nations weary themselves for nothing?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the earth will be filled</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>as the waters cover the sea.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Alas for you who make your neighbours drink,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>pouring out your wrath* until they are drunk,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in order to gaze on their nakedness!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Drink, you yourself, and stagger!*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The cup in the Lord’s right hand</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>will come around to you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and shame will come upon your glory!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the destruction of the animals will terrify you—*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to cities and all who live in them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What use is an idol</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>once its maker has shaped it—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a cast image, a teacher of lies?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For its maker trusts in what has been made,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Alas for you who say to the wood, ‘Wake up!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to silent stone, ‘Rouse yourself!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Can it teach?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">See, it is plated with gold and silver,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and there is no breath in it at all.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But the Lord is in his holy temple;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let all the earth keep silence before him!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">James 2:14-26</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What good is it, my brothers and sisters,* if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Luke 16:19-31</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.* The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.* He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 89:1-18</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 89:1-18</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord,* for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I declare that your steadfast love is established for ever;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have sworn to my servant David:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I will establish your descendants for ever,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and build your throne for all generations.” ’</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">Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a God feared in the council of the holy ones,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>great and awesome* above all that are around him?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord God of hosts,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who is as mighty as you, O Lord?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Your faithfulness surrounds you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You rule the raging of the sea;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>when its waves rise, you still them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You crushed Rahab like a carcass;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the world and all that is in it—you have founded them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The north and the south*—you created them;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have a mighty arm;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>strong is your hand, high your right hand.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Happy are the people who know the festal shout,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">they exult in your name all day long,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and extol* your righteousness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For you are the glory of their strength;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>by your favour our horn is exalted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For our shield belongs to the Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>our king to the Holy One of Israel.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 89:19-52</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 89:19-52</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>‘I have set the crown* on one who is mighty,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have exalted one chosen from the people.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have found my servant David;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with my holy oil I have anointed him;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">my hand shall always remain with him;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my arm also shall strengthen him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The enemy shall not outwit him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the wicked shall not humble him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will crush his foes before him</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and strike down those who hate him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and in my name his horn shall be exalted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will set his hand on the sea</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and his right hand on the rivers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He shall cry to me, “You are my Father,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my God, and the Rock of my salvation!”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will make him the firstborn,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the highest of the kings of the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For-ever I will keep my steadfast love for him,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and my covenant with him will stand firm.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will establish his line for ever,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and his throne as long as the heavens endure.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If his children forsake my law</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and do not walk according to my ordinances,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">if they violate my statutes</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and do not keep my commandments,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">then I will punish their transgression with the rod</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and their iniquity with scourges;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">but I will not remove from him my steadfast love,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or be false to my faithfulness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I will not violate my covenant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or alter the word that went forth from my lips.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will not lie to David.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">His line shall continue for ever,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and his throne endure before me like the sun.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It shall be established for ever like the moon,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>an enduring witness in the skies.’</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">But now you have spurned and rejected him;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you are full of wrath against your anointed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have renounced the covenant with your servant;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have defiled his crown in the dust.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have broken through all his walls;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have laid his strongholds in ruins.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All who pass by plunder him;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>he has become the scorn of his neighbours.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have exalted the right hand of his foes;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have made all his enemies rejoice.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and you have not supported him in battle.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have removed the sceptre from his hand,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and hurled his throne to the ground.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You have cut short the days of his youth;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have covered him with shame.</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">How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself for ever?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>How long will your wrath burn like fire?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Remember how short my time is—*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for what vanity you have created all mortals!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who can live and never see death?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who can escape the power of Sheol?</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">Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>which by your faithfulness you swore to David?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">with which your enemies taunt, O Lord,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with which they taunted the footsteps of your anointed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blessed be the Lord for ever.Amen and Amen.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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