The Wartburg Project

Daily Lectionary

February 2, 2024

February 1, 2024 February 3, 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 12:1-13:9

The Lord Will Give Victory to Jerusalem
121An oracle, the word of the Lord concerning Israel.
This is what the Lord declares, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of a man within him:
2Look! I will make Jerusalem a cup that causes all the surrounding peoples to stagger. When there is a siege against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will be seriously injured, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.
4On that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness. But I will keep my eyes on the house of Judah, and I will strike with blindness every horse that belongs to the other peoples. 5Each of the leaders of the clans of Judah will say in his heart, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength through the Lord of Armies, their God.”
6On that day I will make the leaders of the clans of Judah like a firepot that ignites the woods, and like a flaming torch among the sheaves. They will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right and on the left. Jerusalem will once again live in its own place—in Jerusalem!
7The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not become greater than that of Judah. 8On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Anyone among them who is feeble will be like David on that day, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the Lord, before them. 9On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
They Will Mourn for the One They Pierced
10I[] will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace, who pleads for mercy.[] Then they will look at me, the one they have pierced.
They will mourn for him[] as one mourns for an only child. They will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves over his firstborn. 11On that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, as great as the mourning for Hadad Rimmon[] in the plain of Megiddo. 12The land will mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan[] by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei[] by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14all the families that remain, each family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
A Fountain to Wash Away Sin
131On that day[] a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
2In that day, declares the Lord of Armies, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the impure spirit from the land. 3If anyone still prophesies, his father and his mother who gave birth to him will tell him, “You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord!” Then his father and his mother who gave birth to him will stab him when he prophesies.
4In that day each of those prophets will be ashamed of his vision. When he prophesies, he will not put on a prophet's garment made of hair in order to deceive. 5Instead he will say, “I am not a prophet. I have been a tiller of the soil since my youth, when a man bought me.” 6Someone will ask him, “What are these wounds on your body?”[] He will reply, “I received these wounds in the house of my friends.”
Strike the Shepherd, and the Sheep Will Be Scattered
7Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
and against the man who is my associate, declares the Lord of Armies.
Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.[]
8This will take place in the whole land, declares the Lord:
Two thirds of those who remain in it will be cut off and perish,
but one third will be left in it.
9I will put that third into the fire,
and I will refine them as silver is refined,
and I will test them as gold is tested.
They will call on my name, and I will answer them.
I will say, “This is my people.”
And they will say, “The Lord is my God.”

Titus 1:1-2:6

Greeting
11Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God's elect people and the knowledge of the truth that conforms to godliness, 2based on the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. 3At the proper time he revealed this in his word, in the preaching that was entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
4To Titus, my true child in our common faith:
Grace[] and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Titus' Work in Crete
5The reason I left you in Crete was so that you would set in order the things that were left unfinished and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you. 6Such a man is to be blameless, the husband of only one wife, and to have believing children who are not open to a charge of wild living or disobedience. 7Indeed an overseer, since he is God's steward, must be blameless, not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not a drunkard, not violent, not eager for dishonest gain. 8Instead, he must be hospitable, loving what is good, self-controlled, upright, devout, and disciplined. 9He must cling to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he will be able both to encourage people by the sound teaching and also to correct[] those who oppose him.
10For there are many who are rebellious, whose words are empty, and who deceive, especially those of the circumcision party. 11The mouths of these people must be stopped, because they are ruining whole households by teaching what they should not teach, for the sake of dishonest gain. 12One of their own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, vicious beasts, and lazy gluttons.”[] 13This testimony is true. For this reason, correct them sharply so that they may be sound in the faith, 14not paying attention to Jewish myths or the commands of people who turn their backs on the truth. 15All things are pure to those who are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are defiled and do not believe; rather, both their minds and consciences are defiled. 16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit to do anything good.
Encourage With Sound Doctrine
21But as for you, speak what is appropriate for sound doctrine. 2Encourage older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and patient endurance.
3Likewise, encourage older women to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, but teachers of what is good, 4so that they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, pure, busy at home, kind, and submitting to their own husbands, that the word of God might not be slandered.
6Likewise, encourage younger men to be self-controlled.