Daily Lectionary

September 16, 2023

September 15, 2023 September 17, 2023

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.

2 Chronicles 35:1-7, 16-25

Josiah Celebrates a Passover

(2 Kings 23:21-23)

35¹Josiah celebrated a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²He appointed the priests to their offices. He encouraged them in the service for the House of the Lord.

³He said this to the Levites, who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord:

Keep the holy ark in the house built by Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel. Do not carry it on your shoulders anymore. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. ⁴Prepare yourselves according to your divisions, by your fathers' house, as instructed by David king of Israel and his son Solomon.

⁵Take up your positions in this holy place with a group of Levites assigned to each fathers' house of your brothers, the people of Israel. Part of a fathers' house of the Levites is assigned to each group. ⁶Slaughter the Passover lamb. Consecrate yourselves. Prepare it for your brother Israelites according to the word of the Lord through Moses.

⁷Josiah contributed a total of thirty thousand lambs and young goats as Passover offerings for all the people who were present, and three thousand cattle. These were contributed from the possessions of the king.

¹⁶So all the service for the Lord was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah.

¹⁷The people of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and also the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

¹⁸No Passover like it had been celebrated in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests and the Levites, and with all Judah and Israel, whoever was present, and with the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁹This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

Josiah's Death

(2 Kings 23:28-30)

²⁰After all this, when Josiah had restored the House, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him.

²¹Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What do we have to do with each other, King of Judah? I am not against you this day, but only against the house^[] against which I am waging war. God has said that I should hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, so he will not destroy you.”

²²But Josiah did not turn aside from him. Instead, he disguised himself to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco, which were from the mouth of God, but he went out to battle on the plain near Megiddo.

²³The archers shot King Josiah, so the king said to his attendants, “Take me away, because I am badly wounded.” ²⁴His attendants took him out of the chariot and carried him to his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. He died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

²⁵Jeremiah composed a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers have sung about Josiah in their laments right up until the present day. They made this into a customary practice in Israel. You can find them recorded among the laments.

Colossians 3:1-25

3¹Therefore, because you were raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your^[] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

The New Creation

⁵So put to death whatever is worldly in you: sexual immorality, uncleanness, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.^[] ⁷You too once walked in these things, when you were living in them.

⁸But now, you too are to rid yourselves of all of these: wrath, anger, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to each other since you have put off the old self with its practices, ¹⁰and put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in knowledge, according to the image of its Creator. ¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but rather Christ is all and is in all.

List of Virtues

¹²Therefore, as God's elect, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³Bear with one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone else. Forgive, just as Christ^[] forgave you. ¹⁴And, in addition to all these things, put on love, which ties things together in perfect unity. ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, to which you were also called, in one body. And be thankful.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ^[] dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God.^[] ¹⁷And everything you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Household Duties

¹⁸Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not treat them harshly.

²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord. ²¹Fathers, do not embitter your children, so that they do not become discouraged.

²²Slaves, obey your human masters^[] in everything, not just when they are watching you, like people-pleasers, but with a sincere heart, out of respect for the Lord. ²³Whatever you do, keep working at it with all your heart, as for the Lord and not for people, ²⁴because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. Keep serving the Lord Christ! ²⁵Indeed, the one who does what is wrong will be repaid for what he did wrong, and there is no favoritism.