Wednesday, March 13, 2019

The Daily Lectionary for THURSDAY, March 14, 2019


The Daily Lectionary
THURSDAY, March 14, 2019
(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)

Psalm 27
Triumphant Song of Confidence
Of David.
1  The Lord is my light and my salvation;
     whom shall I fear?
   The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
     of whom shall I be afraid?

2  When evildoers assail me
     to devour my flesh—
   my adversaries and foes—
     they shall stumble and fall.

3  Though an army encamp against me,
     my heart shall not fear;
   though war rise up against me,
     yet I will be confident.

4  One thing I asked of the Lord,
     that will I seek after:
   to live in the house of the Lord
     all the days of my life,
   to behold the beauty of the Lord,
     and to inquire in his temple.

5  For he will hide me in his shelter
     in the day of trouble;
   he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
     he will set me high on a rock.

6  Now my head is lifted up
     above my enemies all around me,
   and I will offer in his tent
     sacrifices with shouts of joy;
   I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

7  Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
     be gracious to me and answer me!
8  “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
     Your face, Lord, do I seek.
9    Do not hide your face from me.

   Do not turn your servant away in anger,
     you who have been my help.
   Do not cast me off, do not forsake me,
     O God of my salvation!
10 If my father and mother forsake me,
     the Lord will take me up.

11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
     and lead me on a level path
     because of my enemies.
12 Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
     for false witnesses have risen against me,
     and they are breathing out violence.

13 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
     in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
     be strong, and let your heart take courage;
     wait for the Lord!

Genesis 13:1-7, 14-18
Abram and Lot Separate
13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.

2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 He journeyed on by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 5 Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them living together; for their possessions were so great that they could not live together, 7 and there was strife between the herders of Abram’s livestock and the herders of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land.

14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent, and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Philippians 3:2-12
3:2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh— 4 even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Pressing toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Optional parts of the readings are set off in square brackets.

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2019, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2018 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!

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