Daily Lectionary

May 20, 2025

May 19, 2025 May 21, 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.

Leviticus 23:1-22

The Calendar of Holy Times

(Exodus 23:10-19, Numbers 28—29, Deuteronomy 16)

23¹The Lord told Moses ²to speak to the Israelites and to tell them this:

These are the appointed times of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations. These are my appointed times:

The Sabbath

³On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It shall be a sabbath to the Lord in all the places you live.

⁴These are the appointed times of the Lord, the holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times:

The Festivals of Passover and Unleavened Bread

⁵The first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, is the Lord's Passover, ⁶and the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread for the Lord. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. ⁷On the first day a holy convocation is to be proclaimed for you. You shall not do any work in your regular occupation. ⁸You shall present an offering by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be proclaimed as a holy convocation. You shall not do any work for your regular occupation.

The Festival of Firstfruits

⁹The Lord told Moses ¹⁰to speak to the people of Israel and tell them this:

When you enter the land that I am giving to you and you reap its harvest, and when you bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest ¹¹so that he may wave the sheaf before the Lord so that you will be accepted, the priest shall wave it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹²On the day that you wave the sheaf, you shall offer as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb without blemish, one year old. ¹³The grain offering accompanying it is to be four quarts^[] of fine wheat flour mixed with oil, a gift to the Lord, a pleasing aroma. The drink offering accompanying it shall be a quart^[] of wine. ¹⁴You shall not eat any of this year's bread or roasted grain or fresh ears until this very day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a permanent regulation throughout your generations in all the places you live.

The Festival of Weeks, Pentecost, or Reaping

¹⁵Then from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you bring the sheaf to be waved, you shall count off seven weeks for yourselves. They must be complete weeks. ¹⁶You shall count fifty days, until you reach the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present an offering of new grain to the Lord. ¹⁷From the places where you live you shall bring two loaves of bread as a wave offering. They shall be made of four quarts of fine wheat flour, baked with yeast, as first ripe produce for the Lord.

¹⁸Then with the bread you shall present seven lambs without blemish, each of them one year old, one young bull from the herd, and two rams—they shall be a whole burnt offering for the Lord, together with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹You shall also present the sin offering with one male goat and the fellowship offering with two one-year-old male lambs. ²⁰The priest shall wave them, together with the bread from the first ripe produce, as a wave offering before the Lord, in addition to the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.

²¹On this very same day you shall make a proclamation. A holy convocation will be proclaimed for you. You shall do no work in your regular occupation. This is a permanent regulation in all the places you live throughout your generations.

²²When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the edges of your field or gather the dropped stalks from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the resident alien. I am the Lord your God.

^[]

Luke 12:13-34

The Rich Fool

¹³Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed me to be a judge or an arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵Then he said to them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because a man's life is not measured by how many possessions he has.”

¹⁶He told them a parable: “The land of a certain rich man produced very well. ¹⁷He was thinking to himself, ‘What will I do, because I do not have anywhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods. ¹⁹And I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.”’

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your soul will be demanded from you. Now who will get what you have prepared?’

²¹“That is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Worry

(Matthew 6:25-34)

²²Jesus said to his disciples, “For that reason I tell you, stop worrying about your life, about what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³Certainly life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap; they have no warehouse or barn; and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! ²⁵And who of you by worrying can add a single moment to his lifespan? ²⁶Since you are not able to do this little thing, why do you worry about the rest? ²⁷Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. But I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. ²⁸If this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith? ²⁹Do not constantly chase after what you will eat or what you will drink. Do not be worried about it. ³⁰To be sure, the nations of the world chase after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need them. ³¹Instead, continue to seek the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. ³²Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not become old, a treasure in the heavens that will not fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.