The Wartburg Project

Daily Lectionary

December 2, 2023

December 1, 2023 December 3, 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.

Isaiah 8:9-9:7

9Be broken to pieces, you peoples.
Be shattered![]
Listen, all of you from faraway countries.
Dress for battle, and be shattered!
Dress for battle, and be shattered!
10Get together, make your plans,
but they will not succeed.
Speak the word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.[]
11Listen! This is how the Lord spoke to me with a strong hand upon me. He instructed me not to walk in the way of this people. He said:
12Do not say, “A conspiracy!” about everything that this people calls a conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear.[] Do not be terrified. 13The Lord of Armies is the one you are to respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread. 14He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone they stumble over and a rock they fall over, and he will be a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15Many will stumble over it. They will fall and be broken. They will be snared and captured.
16Roll up the scroll of testimony. Seal the law among my disciples. 17I will wait for the Lord, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will wait hopefully for him. 18Look, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and warnings to Israel from the Lord of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.
19When they tell you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists, who whisper and mutter,” shouldn't a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the law and to the testimony! If people do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them. 21They will pass through the land, distressed and starving, but when this takes place and they are starving, they will be frustrated, and they will curse their king and their God. They will turn their faces upward, 22and then they will look down to the ground, but I tell you, they will see only distress, darkness, and the gloom that brings anguish. They will be banished into thick darkness.
The Second Description of Immanuel:
The Child Who Is Born to Us
91Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for the land that was in anguish.[] In former times, he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time[] he will cause it to be glorious, along the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles.
2The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
For those living in the land of the shadow of death, the light has dawned.
3You have multiplied the nation. You have increased the joy for it.
They rejoice before you like the joy at harvest time,
like the celebration when people divide the plunder.
4For you have shattered the yoke that burdened them.
You have broken the bar on their shoulders and the rod of their oppressor,
as you did in the day of Midian.
5Every boot that marched in battle
and the garments rolled in blood will be burned.
They will be fuel for the fire.
6For to us a child is born.
To us a son is given.
The authority to rule will rest on his shoulders.
He will be named:
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
7There will be no limit to his authority
and no end to the peace he brings.
He will rule on David's throne and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
from now on, into eternity.
The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

1 Peter 4:1-19

Do Not Join in Immorality
41Therefore, because Christ suffered in flesh,[] arm yourselves with the same mindset, because the one who has suffered in flesh is done with sin. 2Do this so that you no longer live the rest of your time in the flesh for human desires but for God's will. 3Indeed, you have already spent enough time in the past doing what the Gentiles want to do: living in unbridled immorality, lusts, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and disgusting idolatry.
4For this reason, they are surprised that you do not plunge into the same overflowing river of filth with them, and they slander you. 5They will have to give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6In fact, it was for this reason that the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, so that they might be judged the way people are judged in flesh and that they might live the way God lives in spirit.
Love for Others in the End Times
7The end of all things is near. So have sound judgment and be self-controlled for the sake of your prayers. 8Above all, love each other constantly, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9Be hospitable to one another without complaining.
Gifts Meant for Service
10Serve one another, each according to the gift he has received, as good stewards of the many forms of God's grace. 11If anyone speaks, let him do it as one speaking the messages of God. If anyone serves, let him do it as one serving with the strength God supplies so that God may be glorified in every way through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Sharing in the Sufferings of Christ
12Dear friends, do not be surprised by the fiery trial that is happening among you to test you, as if something strange were happening to you. 13Instead rejoice whenever you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
14If you are insulted in connection with the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory[] and of God rests on you.[] 15Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or as a meddler. 16But if you suffer for being a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God in connection with this name.[] 17For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. Now if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who disobey the gospel of God? 18And if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, where will the ungodly sinner end up? 19So let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to their faithful Creator while doing what is good.