The Wartburg Project

Daily Lectionary

December 11, 2021

December 10, 2021 December 12, 2021

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.

Isaiah 28:14-29

A Covenant With Death
14So now, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15You said:
We have made a covenant with death,
an agreement with the grave.[]
When the punishing whip[] comes, it will not touch us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and we have hidden ourselves behind falsehood.
A Cornerstone for Zion
16Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
Look, I am laying a stone in Zion as a foundation,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone to provide a sure foundation.
Whoever believes will not be put to shame.[]
17I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line.
A hailstorm will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and floodwaters will wash away your shelter.
18Your covenant with death will be canceled,
and your agreement with the grave will not stand.
When the punishing whip comes,
you will be beaten down by it.
19Every time it comes, it will carry you away.
It could come any morning, any day, any night.
If you understand this message, you will be utterly terrified:
20The bed is too short to lie on,
and the blanket is too narrow to cover you.
21For the Lord will rise up as he did on Mount Perazim.
He will be enraged, as he was in the valley of Gibeon,
to do his work, his strange work,
and to accomplish his task, his foreign task.
22Now stop your scornful attitude, or your chains will be made stronger,
because I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord, the Lord of Armies,
against the whole earth.
A Parable
23Listen! Hear my voice.
Pay attention to what I say.
24Does the plowman keep plowing all day in order to plant?
Does he keep tilling the soil and turning over the dirt?
25When he has leveled the surface,
doesn't he plant the dill
and scatter cumin seed?
He plants the wheat in one place,
barley in another field,
and spelt along the edge.
26His God instructs him
and teaches him good judgment.
27Of course he does not thresh the dill with a threshing sledge,
nor does he roll the wheel of a cart over the cumin.
No, he beats the dill with a stick
and strikes the cumin with a staff.
28Flour for bread needs to be ground,
so he does not thresh endlessly.
He drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it
and even his team of horses,
but he does not pulverize it.
29This also springs forth from the Lord of Armies.
He gives amazing advice.
He provides great guidance.

1 John 5:1-21

Faith, Love, and Obedience
51Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the God who has given birth[] also loves one who has been born of him. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep his commands. 3In fact, this is love for God: that we keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4because everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: namely, our faith. 5Who is the one who overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6This is the one who came by water and blood: Jesus Christ. He did not come by the water alone but by the water and by the blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7In fact, there are three that testify:[] 8the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three are one.
9If we accept the testimony of people, God's testimony is even greater, because it is the testimony that God gave about his Son. 10The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in him, but the one who does not believe has made God out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God gave about his Son. 11This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14This is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we also know that we receive the things we have asked from him.
16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not result in death, he will ask, and God will give life—to those who commit sin that does not result in death. There is sin that results in death; I am not saying that he should ask about that. 17All unrighteousness is sin, but there is sin that does not result in death.
18We know that anyone who has been born of God does not go on sinning. But the one who was born of God protects him,[] and the Evil One cannot take hold of him. 19We know that we are from God and that the whole world lies in the grip of the Evil One. 20We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21Dear children, guard yourselves from idols.