I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced;therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; From…
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Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them…
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But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail.They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed.Their eternal dishonour will never be forgotten. From Jeremiah 20:10-13, NRSV Jeremiah had to pay a great price to remain true to his prophetic calling. Despite his reservations about…
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Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly…
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Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.’ From Daniel 3:14-20, 24-25, 28, NRSV The names of Shadrach,…
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So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’ So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent…
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Taking his stand among them he said, “Are you such fools, O Israelites, as to condemn a daughter of Israel without examination and without learning the facts?” From Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30,33-62, NRSV Today’s reading tells the intriguing tale of a crime committed by two elders against a Hebrew woman called Susanna. This beautiful young…
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Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. From Isaiah 43:16-21, NRSV In today’s reading, we hear words of prophecy that were written…
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And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying,‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!’ But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind,…
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Let us see if his words are true,and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him,and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.Let us test him with insult and torture,so that we may find out how gentle he…
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