Friday 26 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>
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<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Zechariah 14:1-11<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">See, a day is coming for the Lord, when the plunder taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses looted and the women raped; half the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that half of the Mount shall withdraw northwards, and the other half southwards. And you shall flee by the valley of the Lord’s mountain,* for the valley between the mountains shall reach to Azal;* and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On that day there shall not be* either cold or frost.* And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the Lord), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And the Lord will become king over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be one and his name one.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. And it shall be inhabited, for never again shall it be doomed to destruction; Jerusalem shall abide in security.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Romans 15:7-13</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Therefore I will confess* you among the Gentiles,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and sing praises to your name’;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and again he says,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and again,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and let all the peoples praise him’;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and again Isaiah says,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘The root of Jesse shall come,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in him the Gentiles shall hope.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Luke 19:28-40</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this: “The Lord needs it.” ’ So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Blessed is the king</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who comes in the name of the Lord!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Peace in heaven,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and glory in the highest heaven!’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morning Psalms: Psalm 140, 142</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 140</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>protect me from those who are violent,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who plan evil things in their minds</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and stir up wars continually.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and under their lips is the venom of vipers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span><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">Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>protect me from the violent</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>who have planned my downfall.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and with cords they have spread a net;*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>along the road they have set snares for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><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">I say to the Lord, ‘You are my God;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you have covered my head in the day of battle.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not further their evil plot.*</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">Those who surround me lift up their heads;*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let burning coals fall on them!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let evil speedily hunt down the violent!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and executes justice for the poor.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the upright shall live in your presence.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 142</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With my voice I cry to the Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I pour out my complaint before him;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I tell my trouble before him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When my spirit is faint,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>you know my way.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the path where I walk</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>they have hidden a trap for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Look on my right hand and see—</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>there is no one who takes notice of me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">no refuge remains to me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>no one cares for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I cry to you, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I say, ‘You are my refuge,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my portion in the land of the living.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Give heed to my cry,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I am brought very low.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Save me from my persecutors,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for they are too strong for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bring me out of prison,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so that I may give thanks to your name.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The righteous will surround me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you will deal bountifully with me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evening Psalms: Psalm 141, 143</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 141</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give ear to my voice when I call to you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>keep watch over the door of my lips.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not turn my heart to any evil,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>to busy myself with wicked deeds</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in company with those who work iniquity;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>do not let me eat of their delicacies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let the righteous strike me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>let the faithful correct me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for my prayer is continually* against their wicked deeds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenceless.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and from the snares of evildoers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let the wicked fall into their own nets,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>while I alone escape.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Psalm 143</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hear my prayer, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>answer me in your righteousness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not enter into judgement with your servant,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for no one living is righteous before you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the enemy has pursued me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>crushing my life to the ground,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>making me sit in darkness like those long dead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Therefore my spirit faints within me;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my heart within me is appalled.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I remember the days of old,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think about all your deeds,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I meditate on the works of your hands.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I stretch out my hands to you;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.</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">Answer me quickly, O Lord;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my spirit fails.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do not hide your face from me,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for in you I put my trust.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Teach me the way I should go,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for to you I lift up my soul.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have fled to you for refuge.*</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Teach me to do your will,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for you are my God.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let your good spirit lead me</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>on a level path.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and destroy all my adversaries,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for I am your servant.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">******************************************************************</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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