So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air…
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Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. From Isaiah 52:13-53:12 NRSV Today we hear a long and very…
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This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. From Exodus12:1-8,11-14 NRSV In today’s Old Testament reading we hear about the institution of the Passover. Detailed instructions were given as to the selection,…
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The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backwards.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…
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And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.’… And now the Lord says… ‘It is too light a thing…
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Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. From Isaiah 42:1-7, NRSV Today’s Old Testament Reading is from the first of Isaiah’s four “Servant Songs”. Whilst it may not be certain who Isaiah’s subject was,…
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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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