Daily Lectionary

June 29, 2024

June 28, 2024 June 30, 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.

Joshua 4:1-24

The Monument

4¹When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord told Joshua, ²“Take twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, ³and give them the following orders: ‘Pick up twelve stones from here in the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the feet of the priests are standing securely. Carry them over with you and put them at the place where you will stay tonight.’”

⁴So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had selected from the people of Israel—a man from each tribe. ⁵Joshua said to them, “Go to the middle of the Jordan in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. There each man is to lift up one stone on his shoulder. The number will correspond to the number of the tribes descended from the sons of Israel, ⁶so that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in the future, ‘What do these stones mean for you?’ ⁷Then you shall respond to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. When the ark passed through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones will serve as a permanent memorial for the people of Israel.”

⁸So the people of Israel did just as Joshua had ordered. They picked up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, corresponding to the number of the tribes descended from the sons of Israel, as the Lord had instructed Joshua. They carried the stones over with them to their lodging place and deposited them there. ⁹Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the feet of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant had stood.^[] They are there to this day.

¹⁰The priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people had been accomplished, just as Moses had commanded Joshua. The people moved swiftly and completed the crossing. ¹¹When all the people had finished crossing, the Ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.

¹²The descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh,^[] arranged by their military units, had crossed over ahead of the people of Israel, just as Moses had commanded them, ¹³about forty thousand men armed for battle. They crossed over to the plain near Jericho to wage war in the presence of the Lord.

¹⁴That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they honored him,^[] just as they had honored Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵The Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶“Command the priests who are carrying the Ark of the Testimony that they should come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁸When the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan, as soon as the soles of their feet reached dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and it overflowed all its banks as before. ¹⁹The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and set up camp at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

²⁰Those twelve stones that they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. ²¹He said to the people of Israel, “When your children in the future ask their fathers, ‘What are these stones?’ ²²you shall teach your children, ‘On dry land Israel crossed over this Jordan.’ ²³For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of you until you crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up in front of us until we had crossed over. ²⁴He did this so that all the peoples of the earth would know that the hand of the Lord is strong, so that you would fear the Lord your God always.”

Acts 9:23-43

²³After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, ²⁴but Saul was informed of their plot. They were watching the gates both day and night in order to kill him. ²⁵But his^[] disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall by lowering him in a basket.^[]

²⁶When Saul came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him because they did not believe that he was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He described to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

²⁸Saul stayed with them, coming and going freely in Jerusalem and speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹He kept on talking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they were looking for a way to kill him. ³⁰When the brothers^[] learned about this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace as it was strengthened. It grew in numbers as it lived in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Peter Heals Aeneas and Raises Tabitha From the Dead

³²As Peter went around from place to place, he also went down to the saints who lived in Lydda. ³³There he found a paralyzed man named Aeneas, who had been lying on a mat for eight years. ³⁴Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat!” Immediately, he got up. ³⁵All those who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

³⁶In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas.^[] She was always doing good deeds and acts of charity. ³⁷At that time she became sick and died. After they had washed her, they laid her in an upstairs room. ³⁸Since Lydda is near Joppa, when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, who urged him, “Come to us without delay!”

³⁹Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they led him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing him the robes and clothing that Dorcas made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰After Peter sent them all outside, he got down on his knees and prayed. Then he turned toward the body and said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her stand up. After he called the saints and the widows, he presented her to them alive.

⁴²This became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. ⁴³Peter stayed in Joppa for many days with a man named Simon the tanner.