Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Daily Lectionary for THURSDAY, November 21, 2019

https://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/revised-common-lectionary-semicontinuous/2019/11/21?version=NRSV

The Daily Lectionary
THURSDAY, November 21, 2019
(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)
(Semi-continuous Reading Plan)

(God raises up a mighty savior)
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
     for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed
         them.
69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us
     in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from
         of old,
71   that we would be saved from our enemies and from
         the hand of all who hate us.
72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
     and has remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
     to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands
         of our enemies,
   might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and
         righteousness
     before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of
         the Most High;
     for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
     by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
     the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in
         the shadow of death,
     to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

(Jerusalem will fall)
Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadrezzar
21:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the Lord will perform a wonderful deed for us, as he has often done, and will make him withdraw from us.”

3 Then Jeremiah said to them: 4 Thus you shall say to Zedekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am going to turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them together into the center of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and mighty arm, in anger, in fury, and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both human beings and animals; they shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, says the Lord, I will give King Zedekiah of Judah, and his servants, and the people in this city—those who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine—into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword; he shall not pity them, or spare them, or have compassion.

8 And to this people you shall say: Thus says the Lord: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Those who stay in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but those who go out and surrender to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have their lives as a prize of war. 10 For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good, says the Lord: it shall be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

Message to the House of David
11 To the house of the king of Judah say: Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

   Execute justice in the morning,
     and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
     anyone who has been robbed,
   or else my wrath will go forth like fire,
     and burn, with no one to quench it,
     because of your evil doings.

13 See, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
     O rock of the plain,
        says the Lord;
   you who say, “Who can come down against us,
     or who can enter our places of refuge?”
14 I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,
        says the Lord;
     I will kindle a fire in its forest,
     and it shall devour all that is around it.

(Christ has appeared once for all)
Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sin
9:23 Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

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
The Daily Lectionary for THURSDAY, November 21, 2019
Luke 1:68-79; Jeremiah 21:1-14; Hebrews 9:23-28

No comments:

Post a Comment