The Wartburg Project

Daily Lectionary

December 15, 2021

December 14, 2021 December 16, 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 30:27-31:9

God Will Punish Assyria
27Look! The name of the Lord is coming from far away,
burning with anger, in a column of thick smoke.
His lips are full of anger,
and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28His breath is a stream at flood stage,
surging all the way up to your neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve to destroy them,
and he puts a bridle in their mouths to lead them to destruction.
29You will sing as you do on the night of a holy festival, with glad hearts,
as when they go up with flutes to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30The Lord will cause the majestic splendor of his voice to be heard.
He will make them see his arm come crashing down in fierce anger,
like the flames of a consuming fire,
like driving rain, a furious storm with hailstones.
31The voice of the Lord will terrify Assyria.
He will strike it with his rod.
32Every stroke of the punishing rod[] which the Lord will lay on them
will be accompanied by the music of drums and lyres.
He himself will fight, battling them, swinging weapons.
33Topheth has long been made ready.
It is prepared for the king,
a flaming funeral pyre, deep and wide, with plenty of wood.
The breath of the Lord, like a river of liquid fire, sets it ablaze.
Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt
311Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who put their faith in horses,
who trust in chariots because there are many of them,
who trust in charioteers[] because they are very powerful.
They do not trust in the Holy One of Israel.
They do not seek the Lord.
2The Lord is wise, and he will bring disaster.
He will not go back on his word,
but he will deal with those who do evil,
and with those who help the wicked.
3The Egyptians are merely men, not gods.
Their horses are flesh, not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand to punish,
both the helper and the one seeking help will fall.
Together they will perish.
4This is what the Lord said to me:
When a lion or a young lion snarls over its prey,
and a band of shepherds is called out to drive it away,
it is not afraid of their shouts,
and it is not bothered by the noise they make.
In the same way, the Lord of Armies will fearlessly come down
to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights.
5Like a hovering[] bird,
the Lord of Armies will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect it and deliver it.
He will pass over it and preserve it.
6O people of Israel, return to the one you have so completely betrayed. 7In that day every one of you will throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—things you made, which caused you to sin.
8Assyria will fall, but not by a human sword.
A sword will devour him, but not one wielded by men.
He will flee from the sword,
but his young men will be forced into slavery.
9His rocky stronghold will pass away because of fear,
and his officials will abandon their banner in panic,
declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
whose blast furnace is in Jerusalem.

Revelation 3:1-22

Letter to the Church in Sardis
A church about to die
31To the messenger of the church in Sardis write:
The one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this:
I know your works. You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up, and strengthen what is left, which is about to die, for I have found that your works are not complete in the sight of my God. 3Therefore remember what you received and heard. Hold on to it and repent! If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come upon you.
4Yet you have a few names in Sardis, people who have not defiled their clothes. They will walk with me in white clothing, for they are worthy.
5The one who is victorious in this way[] will be clothed in white clothing. I certainly will not erase his name from the Book of Life, and I will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
6Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Letter to the Church in Philadelphia
A church with an open door
7To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia write:
The Holy One, the one who is true, the one who has the key of David, the one who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one can open, says this:
8I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9Look, I will make those who are from the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not but are lying—look, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them realize that I have loved you. 10Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing, which is about to come over the whole inhabited world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
11I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown.
12The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again. I will also write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.
13Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Letter to the Church in Laodicea
A church that is sickening to Jesus
14To the messenger of the church in Laodicea write:
The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation, says this:
15I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. If only you were cold or hot! 16So, because you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, “I am rich. I have become very wealthy and need nothing.” But you do not know that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments, so that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness may not become public, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
19I rebuke and discipline those whom I love. So take this seriously and repent.
20Look, I stand at the door and I am knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in with him and dine with him, and he with me. 21To the one who is victorious I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.
22Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.