Daily Lectionary

January 10, 2025

January 9, 2025 January 11, 2025

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.

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 19-32

The Wicked Will Die; The Righteous Will Live

18¹The word of the Lord came to me:

²What do you mean, you who keep repeating this proverb concerning the soil of Israel, “Fathers eat sour grapes, and their sons' teeth are set on edge”? ³As surely as I live, declares the Lord God, you will never again use this proverb in Israel. ⁴Indeed, all souls are mine. The soul of the father is mine just like the soul of the son. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

¹⁹But you ask, “Why doesn't the son share in the guilt of the father?” Because the son did what was just and right. He kept all my statutes and carried them out, so he will surely live. ²⁰The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share in the guilt of the father, and the father will not share in the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous person will be credited to him alone, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be charged against him alone.

²¹A wicked man, if he turns away from^[] all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and carries out justice and righteousness, he will surely live. He will not die. ²²All of the rebellious acts that he had committed will not be remembered against him. Because of his righteousness that he has practiced, he will live. ²³Do I really find any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Don't I want him to turn from his ways and live?

²⁴But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and does what is unrighteous—namely, all the abominations that the wicked man practices—will he live? All the righteous deeds that he did will not be remembered. Because he added one infidelity to another and because of the sins that he has committed, because of them, he will die.

²⁵But you say, “The Lord's way is not fair.” Listen now, house of Israel. Is it my way that is not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? ²⁶If a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices unrighteousness, he will die because of it. Because of the unrighteousness that he has practiced, he will die.

²⁷But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness that he has done and practices justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life. ²⁸Because he has seen and turned away from^[] all the rebellious acts that he had committed, he will surely live, and he will not die. ²⁹But the house of Israel says, “The Lord's way is not fair.” Is it really my ways that are not fair, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not fair?

³⁰Therefore, I will judge each one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn away from all your rebellious acts, so that you will not set out a stumbling block that makes you guilty. ³¹Throw off from yourselves all your rebellious actions by which you have rebelled, and obtain a new heart and a new spirit for yourselves. Why should you die, O house of Israel? ³²For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord God. So repent and live!

Romans 2:17-29

Paul Addresses the Jew Directly

¹⁷Now if you call yourself a Jew, and you find your comfort in the law, and you boast in God; ¹⁸and if you know his will, and you approve the things that really matter, since you are instructed by the law; ¹⁹and if you are convinced that you yourself are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, ²⁰an instructor of the ignorant, and a teacher of infants (since you have the essence of knowledge and truth in the law)— ²¹now then, you, the one who is teaching someone else, do you fail to teach yourself? You who preach, “Do not steal,” do you steal? ²²You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob temples? ²³You who boast in the law bring shame on God by breaking the law. ²⁴Yes, as it is written, “God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”^[]

Does Circumcision Make a Difference?

²⁵Indeed, circumcision has value if you observe the law. On the other hand, if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶So, if an uncircumcised person keeps the righteous requirements of the law, won't his uncircumcision be credited to him as circumcision? ²⁷The one who is not circumcised physically, but fulfills the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker, even though you have the written law and circumcision.

²⁸In fact, a Jew who is merely one outwardly is not really a Jew, and circumcision that is only outward in the flesh is not really circumcision. ²⁹Rather, a real Jew is one on the inside, and his circumcision is of the heart—a spiritual circumcision, not one based on carrying out the letter of the law. That person's praise does not come from people but from God.