The Wartburg Project

Daily Lectionary

July 27, 2025

July 26, 2025 July 28, 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.

1 Samuel 12:1-25

Samuel's Farewell
121Samuel said to all Israel, “You see that I have listened to your voice and to everything that you said to me. I have appointed a king over you. 2Now, there he is. The king is walking before you. I am old and gray, but my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth till this very day.
3“Here I am. Testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Have I defrauded anyone? Have I oppressed anyone? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to turn a blind eye to anything? If so, I will restore it for you.”
4They replied, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from anyone's hand.”
5So he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness today that you have not found anything in my hand.”
They said, “He is witness.”
6So this is what Samuel said to the people:
It was the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7Now then, stand here, so that I may present the case against you before the Lord on the basis of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did for you and for your fathers.
8When Jacob had gone down into Egypt,[] your fathers cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9But they forgot the Lord their God, so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10They cried to the Lord and said, “We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord. We have served the Baals and the Ashtartes, but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.” 11So the Lord sent Jerubbaal,[] Bedan,[] Jephthah, and Samuel, and he delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.
12But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was coming against you, even though the Lord your God was your king, you said to me, “No, we want a king to reign over us.”
13Now look, here is the king you have chosen, the king you asked for. You see, the Lord has set a king over you. 14If you fear the Lord and serve him and listen to his voice and do not rebel against the mouth of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will be following the Lord your God. 15But if you do not listen to the Lord's voice but rebel against the mouth of the Lord, then the Lord's hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
16Now then, take your positions here, and see this great thing that the Lord is about to do right in front of your eyes. 17Isn't today the time of wheat harvest? I will call to the Lord, and he will send thunder and rain,[] so that you may know and see that your wickedness is great, that wickedness which you have done in the Lord's sight by asking for a king.
18Then Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people were very afraid of the Lord and of Samuel.
19So all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we do not die, for we have added to all our sins also this evil, that we asked for a king for ourselves.”
20Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil. Nevertheless, do not turn away from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21Do not turn away to pursue empty things that cannot help you or save you, because they are empty. 22For the sake of his great name, the Lord will not forsake his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own people for himself. 23As for me, it is unthinkable[] that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. Instead, I will instruct you in the way that is good and right. 24Above all, fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, with all your heart, considering the great things he has done for you. 25But if you keep doing evil, you will be swept away, both you and your king.”

Acts 22:30-23:11

Paul on Trial Before the Sanhedrin
30The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he untied him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to meet. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.
231Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Gentlemen,[] brothers, I have lived my life before God with a completely clear conscience to this very day.”
2But the high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there judging me according to the law, and then you order them to strike me contrary to the law!”
4Those who were standing nearby said, “Do you dare to insult God's high priest?”
5Paul replied, “I did not know, brothers, that he is the high priest. Indeed, it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’”[]
6When Paul realized that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, he shouted out in the Sanhedrin, “Gentlemen, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope for the resurrection of the dead!”
7When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8(For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in them all.) 9Then there was a great uproar, and some of the experts in the law who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly: “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?”[]
10The uproar became so great that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He commanded the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.
11The following night the Lord stood next to Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have solemnly testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”