Daily Lectionary

January 31, 2024

January 30, 2024 February 1, 2024

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.

Zechariah 10:1-11:3

The Lord Will Provide

10¹Ask the Lord, who makes storm clouds,

to give rain at the right time for the spring rains,

and he will provide showers of rain,

and there will be crops in the field for everyone.

²But household gods speak wicked deception,

and the omen readers see illusions.

They report trivial dreams

and give false comfort.

That is why the people wander like sheep.

They are miserable^[] because they have no shepherd.

The Lord's Warning and Promise

³My anger burns against the shepherds,

and I will punish the leaders of the flock,

because the Lord of Armies cares for his flock, the house of Judah,

and he will make them like his majestic horse in battle.

⁴From him will come the cornerstone,

from him the tent peg,

from him the battle bow,

from him every commander.

⁵Together they will be like strong warriors,

going out into battle, trampling the enemy into the mud of the streets.

They will fight, because the Lord is with them,

and those who ride horses will be put to shame.

⁶I will strengthen the house of Judah

and save the house of Joseph.

I will restore them,

because I have compassion on them.

It will be as if I had not rejected them,

because I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them.

⁷Then Ephraim will become like a strong warrior,

and their hearts will be glad as if with wine.

Their children will see it and be glad.

Their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.

⁸I will whistle for them and gather them in,

for I have redeemed them.

They will be as numerous as they were in the past.

⁹Though I scattered them among the peoples,

yet in distant places they will remember me.

They will survive and return with their children.

¹⁰I will bring them back from the land of Egypt,

and I will gather them from Assyria.

I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon,

and there will not be enough room for them.

¹¹They^[] will pass through the sea of distress,

but he will strike the waves in the sea.

All the depths of the Nile will become dry.

The pride of Assyria will be brought low.

The scepter of Egypt will depart.

¹²I will make them strong in the Lord,

and they will walk in his name, declares the Lord.

11¹Open your doors, Lebanon,

so that fire may devour your cedars.

²Wail, you fir trees, because the cedar has fallen.

The majestic trees have been destroyed.

Wail, oaks of Bashan,

for the impenetrable forest has been felled.

³There is a sound of shepherds wailing,

because their splendor has been destroyed.

There is a sound of young lions roaring,

for the dense thickets of the Jordan have been destroyed.

2 Timothy 3:1-17

The Last Days

3¹But know this: In the last days there will be terrible times. ²For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemous, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³unloving, not able to reconcile with others, slanderous, without self-control, savage, haters of what is good, ⁴treacherous, reckless, puffed up with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵holding to an outward form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such people. ⁶For some of them are people who worm their way into households and gain control over vulnerable women who are overwhelmed with sins, led astray by various evil desires, ⁷always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁸Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these people oppose the truth. They are people of depraved minds, disqualified in regard to the faith. ⁹But they will not get very far, because their foolishness will be quite clear to everyone, just as it was in the case of Jannes and Jambres.

¹⁰But you have faithfully followed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfast endurance, ¹¹my persecutions, my sufferings-the kind that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the kind of persecutions I endured-and the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹²Indeed, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

¹⁴As for you, continue in the things you have learned and about which you have become convinced. You know from whom^[] you learned them ¹⁵and that from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God breathed^[] and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be complete, well equipped for every good work.