Daily Lectionary

September 4, 2024

September 3, 2024 September 5, 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.

2 Kings 2:1-18

Elijah Ascends to Heaven

2¹When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah was traveling with Elisha from Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”

But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

³The sons of the prophets^[] who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord is taking your master away from you?”

Then he said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

⁴Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here because the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”

But he said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

⁵Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord is taking your master away from you?”

He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

⁶Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here because the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”

But he said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷Then fifty men from the sons of the prophets came and stood and watched them from a distance, while the two of them were standing at the Jordan. ⁸Elijah took his cloak, folded it together, and struck the water. The water divided to the right and to the left. Then the two of them crossed on dry land.

⁹When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask me for whatever I can do for you before I am taken from you.”

Then Elisha said, “Let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.”

¹⁰He said, “You have asked for a difficult thing. If you see me being taken from you, it will surely be yours. But if not, then it will not.”

¹¹While they were walking and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire came and separated them. So Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. ¹²Elisha was watching and crying out, “My father! My father! Israel's chariot and its charioteers!” Then he did not see him anymore. He grabbed his clothing, and he ripped it into two pieces.

¹³Then he picked up Elijah's cloak, which had fallen from him. He returned and stood at the edge of the Jordan. ¹⁴He took Elijah's cloak, which had fallen from him, and he struck the water and said, “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah? Yes, where is he?” As soon as he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left so that Elisha could cross.

¹⁵When the sons of the prophets, who were watching him from Jericho, saw this, they said, “Elijah's spirit is resting on Elisha.” They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him.

¹⁶They said to him, “Look, here are your servants, fifty strong men. Please, let them go and search for your master in case the Spirit of the Lord lifted him up and then set him down on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.”

But he said, “Don't send them.”

¹⁷But they urged him to the point of embarrassment, so he said, “Send them.” So they sent the fifty men. They searched for three days, but they did not find him.

¹⁸When they returned to Elisha, he was staying in Jericho. He said to them, “Didn't I say to you, ‘Don't go’?”

Ephesians 4:1-24

Members of Christ's Body

4¹As a prisoner in the Lord, therefore, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. ²Live with all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love.

³Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in the one hope of your calling. ⁵There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us^[] all.

⁷But to each one of us grace was given, according to the measure of the gift from Christ. ⁸That is why it says, “When he ascended on high, he took captivity captive and gave gifts to his people.”^[] ⁹Now what does it mean when it says, “he ascended,” other than that he also had descended^[] to the lower parts, namely, the earth?^[] ¹⁰He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he would fill all things. ¹¹He himself gave the apostles, as well as the prophets, as well as the evangelists, as well as the pastors and teachers, ¹²for the purpose of training the saints for the work of serving,^[] in order to build up the body of Christ. ¹³This is to continue until we all reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, resulting in a mature man with a stature reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴The goal is that we would no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, when people use tricks and invent clever ways to lead us astray. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we would in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. ¹⁶From him the whole body, being joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows in accordance with Christ's activity when he measured out each individual part. He causes the growth of the body so that it builds itself up in love.

Living Changed Lives

¹⁷So I tell you this and testify to it in the Lord: Do not walk any longer as the Gentiles walk, in their futile way of thinking. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹Because they have no sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality, with an ever-increasing desire to practice every kind of impurity.

²⁰But you did not learn Christ in that way, ²¹if indeed you have heard of him and were taught in him (since the truth is in Jesus). ²²As far as your former way of life is concerned, you were taught to take off the old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires, ²³and to be renewed continually in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and to put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness.