Daily Lectionary

August 24, 2027

August 23, 2027 August 25, 2027

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 Kings 5:1-18

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

(2 Chronicles 2:1-18)

5¹Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon because he heard that Solomon had been anointed king in his father's place, and because Hiram had been a dear friend of David all his days.^[]

²Solomon sent the following message to Hiram:

³You know that my father David was not able to build a house for the Name of the Lord his God, because of the wars that swirled around him until the Lord put his enemies under the soles of his feet. ⁴But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. I have no adversary and face no dangerous situations. ⁵Listen to this! I intend to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord told my father, “Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, will build the house for my Name.” ⁶Now give the order to cut cedar logs for me from Lebanon. My servants will work with your servants, and I will reimburse you whatever you specify as the pay for your servants, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut lumber like the Sidonians.

⁷When Hiram heard Solomon's words, he was very happy and he said:

Blessed be the Lord this day because he has given David a wise son to rule over this great people.

⁸So Hiram sent word to Solomon:

I have heard the message you sent me. I will provide all the cedar and fir logs that you desire. ⁹My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will put them into the sea as rafts and float them to the place that you tell me. Then we will dismantle them there, and you can transport them up from there. In exchange, you will provide all the food I desire for my palace.

¹⁰So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and fir that he desired. ¹¹In return, Solomon gave Hiram one hundred twenty thousand bushels^[] of wheat as provisions for his palace and one hundred twenty thousand gallons^[] of beaten^[] olive oil. Solomon gave this amount to Hiram every year. ¹²The Lord gave wisdom to Solomon just as he had promised him, so there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty.

¹³King Solomon drafted a labor force from all over Israel. It numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴He sent ten thousand men per month to Lebanon in shifts. They would spend one month in Lebanon. Then for two months they would be at home. Adoniram was in charge of this forced labor. ¹⁵Solomon had seventy thousand men to transport materials and eighty thousand men to quarry stones in the mountains, ¹⁶not counting the officials who were overseeing the work for Solomon. There were thirty-three hundred men supervising the people who were doing the work. ¹⁷The king gave a command, and they quarried large, high-quality stones to serve as a foundation for the temple building, which was made of trimmed stones. ¹⁸Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the men from Gebal^[] cut and prepared the wood and stones to construct the temple building.^[]

2 Corinthians 1:23-2:17

²³I call God as my witness, on my very life, that I avoided coming to Corinth in order to spare you. ²⁴Not that we are lording it over your faith, but we are working together with you for your joy. For you stand firm by faith.

2¹That is why I made up my mind that I would not make another sad visit to you. ²For if I make you sad, then who is there to make me glad, other than those I made sad? ³I am writing^[] for this very purpose: That when I arrive, I will not be made sad by those who should make me glad. I am confident about all of you—that what gives me joy is what gives joy to all of you. ⁴In fact, out of much trouble and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears. My goal was not to make you sad, but that you would know how very much I love you.

Forgive and Comfort the Repentant Sinner

⁵Now if anyone has caused sorrow, he has not done it to me, but to all of you to some extent (not to overstate it). ⁶This punishment inflicted on such a person by the majority is enough, ⁷so that instead you should rather forgive and comfort him, or else such a person could be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸For that reason, I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹In fact, this was also the purpose of my writing: I wanted to know the result of your being tested, that is, if you are obedient in all things.

¹⁰If you forgive anyone anything, I do too. To be sure, if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake, ¹¹so that Satan would not take advantage of us. We are certainly not unaware of his schemes.

The Fragrance of Christ

¹²When I came to Troas to proclaim the gospel of Christ and a door was opened for me by the Lord, ¹³I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴But thanks be to God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ and reveals the fragrance of his knowledge through us in every place. ¹⁵Yes, we are the fragrance of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. ¹⁶To some we are the odor of death that is a prelude to death, to the others the fragrance of life that is a prelude to life. And who is qualified for these things? ¹⁷To be sure, we are not like many who peddle the word of God for profit. Instead, in Christ we speak with sincerity in the sight of God, as men from God.