Daily Lectionary

January 19, 2019

January 18, 2019 January 20, 2019

These daily readings from the EHV follow the one-year daily lectionary provided in Christian Worship: Hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book, and the Treasury of Daily Prayer. In this lectionary, two readings of 15-25 verses each are provided for each day. Under this plan, nearly all of the New Testament and approximately one-third of the Old Testament are read each year. These readings fit well within the daily offices of Matins, Vespers, or Compline as daily family devotions.

Ezekiel 44:1-16, 23-29

The Prince

44¹Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, but it was closed. ²The Lord said to me, “This gate must remain closed and not be opened. No man may enter through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore, it is to remain closed. ³The prince, because he is the prince, may sit in it to eat food in the presence of the Lord. He must enter through the vestibule of the gateway, and he must go out the same way.”

The Purity of the Temple

⁴Next, he brought me through the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked, and the Glory of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord, and I fell on my face. ⁵The Lord said this to me.

Son of man, pay attention. Watch carefully and listen carefully^[] to what I am telling you regarding all the regulations of the temple of the Lord and all the instructions concerning it. Pay attention to the entrance of the temple and to all the exits of the sanctuary.

⁶Say this to the rebellion, that is, to the house of Israel. This is what the Lord God says. There has been more than enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel. ⁷You even brought foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, into my sanctuary to desecrate it—into my own house!—even while you were offering my food, namely, the fat and the blood. In this way they broke my covenant in addition to all your abominations.

⁸You have not faithfully guarded my holy things. Instead, you appointed others to be guards at my sanctuary in your place. ⁹This is what the Lord God says. No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, may enter my sanctuary—no foreigner at all from those who are among the people of Israel.

The Purity of the Priests and Levites

¹⁰What's more, the Levites who went far from me when Israel strayed away, those who wandered away from me to follow their filthy idols, they must bear the consequences of their guilt. ¹¹Nevertheless, the Levites shall be in my sanctuary serving as guards over the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices for the people. They shall stand before the people to serve them. ¹²But because they formerly served them in front of their filthy idols and became a stumbling block that made the house of Israel guilty, therefore I have raised my hand in an oath against them, declares the Lord God, and they must bear the consequences of their guilt. ¹³They may not approach me to serve as priests for me, nor may they approach any of my holy things or the most holy offerings. They must bear their shame and the consequences of the abominations that they committed. ¹⁴Yet I will make them guardians of the ministry of the temple, in charge of all the duties of the temple and of everything that has to be done in it.

¹⁵But the levitical priests who are the sons of Zadok, those who faithfully performed the duty of guarding the ministry of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel strayed away from me, they may approach me to serve me, and they may stand before me to offer the fat and the blood to me, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶They alone may enter my sanctuary. They alone may approach my table to minister to me, and they shall perform the duty of guarding the ministry of the temple for me.

²³They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and make them knowledgeable in distinguishing the unclean from the clean.

²⁴In case of a dispute, they are to officiate as judges, and they must render their judgment concerning that case on the basis of the precedents in my judgments. They must observe my instructions and my regulations regarding all my appointed festivals, and they must keep my Sabbaths holy.

²⁵They must not go near a dead person and make themselves ceremonially unclean by doing so. Only in the case of father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister may they make themselves unclean. ²⁶After a priest has been purified, seven days must be counted off for him. ²⁷On the day he enters into the sanctuary, into the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he must offer a sin offering for himself, declares the Lord God.

²⁸This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance. You must not give them property in Israel. I am their property. ²⁹They may eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the restitution offerings, and every devoted thing in Israel will belong to them.

Romans 9:1-18

The Blessings of the True Israel

9¹I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying—my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit ²that I have great sorrow and continuous pain in my heart. ³For I almost wish that I myself could be cursed and separated from Christ in place of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh, ⁴those who are Israelites. Theirs are the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. ⁵Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, came the Christ, who is God over all, eternally blessed. Amen.

⁶This does not mean that God's word has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are really Israel, ⁷and not all who are descended from Abraham are really his children. On the contrary, “Your line of descent will be traced through Isaac.”^[] ⁸This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as his descendants. ⁹For this is what the promise said: “I will arrive at this set time, and Sarah will have a son.”^[]

God's Choice Is Based on His Mercy

¹⁰Not only that, but Rebekah also had children by one man, our forefather, Isaac. ¹¹Even before the twins were born or did anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose in election might continue— ¹²not by works but because of him who calls us—it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”^[] ¹³Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”^[]

¹⁴What will we say then? Does this mean that God is unjust? Absolutely not! ¹⁵For God says to Moses:

I will show mercy to whom I show mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.^[]

¹⁶So then, it does not depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

¹⁷Indeed, the Scripture says in regard to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to stand, that I may demonstrate my power in how I deal with you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”^[] ¹⁸So then, God shows mercy to whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.