Daily Lectionary

September 27, 2023

September 26, 2023 September 28, 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.

Malachi 3:6-4:6

⁶Certainly I, the Lord, do not change. That is why you, sons of Jacob, have not come to an end. ⁷Since the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies.

You say, “In what way should we return?”

⁸Will a man rob God? You are robbing me!

You say, “How have we robbed you?”

In regard to the tithe and the special offering.^[] ⁹You are being cursed since all of you, the whole nation, are robbing me. ¹⁰Bring the complete tithe to the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Just test me in this, says the Lord of Armies. See whether I do not open for you the windows^[] of heaven and pour down blessing on you, until there is more than enough. ¹¹I will restrain the devouring swarm so that it will not destroy your produce from your soil. Your vine in the field will not be without fruit, says the Lord of Armies. ¹²All the nations will call you blessed, because you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of Armies.

¹³Your words against me are harsh, says the Lord.

You ask, “How have we spoken against you?” ¹⁴You say, “Serving God is pointless. What have we gained by carefully keeping his requirements and by walking around like mourners before the Lord of Armies? ¹⁵Now we will call the arrogant blessed. Even evildoers are built up. They even test God and get away with it.”

Israel's Response

¹⁶Then those who fear the Lord spoke with each other. The Lord gave them his attention and listened. A book of remembrance was written in front of him for those who fear the Lord and have regard for his name.

¹⁷They will be mine, says the Lord of Armies, on the day I make them my treasured possession. I will spare them just as a man spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸Then you will again see the distinction between a righteous person and a wicked person, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

4¹Look! The day is coming, burning like a blast furnace.^[] All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord of Armies, a day that will not leave behind a root or branch for them. ²But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness^[] will rise, and there will be healing in its wings. You will go out and jump around like calves from the stall. ³You will trample the wicked. They will surely be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I take action, says the Lord of Armies.

⁴Remember the law of my servant Moses, which I commanded to him at Horeb to serve as statutes and judgments over all Israel.

⁵Look! I am going to send Elijah the prophet to you before the great and fearful day of the Lord comes!^[] ⁶He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with complete destruction.

Matthew 4:12-25

Jesus Begins to Preach

¹²When Jesus heard that John was put in prison, he withdrew into Galilee. ¹³He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴He did this to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

along the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,

¹⁶the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light,

and on those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death a light has dawned.^[]

¹⁷From that time, Jesus began to preach: “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near.”

“Come, Follow Me”

(Mark 1:14-20; Luke 5:1-11; John 1:35-51)

¹⁸As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. ¹⁹He said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

²⁰They immediately left their nets and followed him. ²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

(Mark 1:35-39; Luke 4:42-44)

²³Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. ²⁴News about him spread throughout all Syria. People brought to him all who were ill with various diseases and suffering severe pains, the demon-possessed, those who experienced seizures, and the paralyzed. Then he healed them. ²⁵Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.