Daily Lectionary

August 21, 2028

August 20, 2028 August 22, 2028

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 1:1-4, 15-35

Adonijah's Conspiracy

1¹When King David was old and advanced in years, his servants covered him with blankets, but he could not get warm. ²So they said to him, “Let your servants search for a young woman, a virgin, for my lord the king. She will attend to the king and be his nurse. She will lie close to you and keep my lord the king warm.”

³So they searched the whole territory of Israel for a beautiful young woman. They found Abishag from Shunem and brought her to the king. ⁴The young woman was very beautiful, and she served as the king's nurse, but the king was not intimate with her.

¹⁵So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber. The king was very old, and Abishag from Shunem was taking care of him. ¹⁶Bathsheba knelt and bowed down before the king. The king said, “Why have you come?”

¹⁷She said, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God and promised me, ‘Your son Solomon will be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸But now, look, Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, did not know about it. ¹⁹He has sacrificed cattle, specially fattened calves, and sheep in abundance. He has invited all the king's sons, as well as Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he has not invited your servant Solomon. ²⁰Now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, waiting for you to tell them who will sit on my lord the king's throne after him. ²¹If you do not, when my lord the king rests with^[] his fathers, then I and my son Solomon will be treated like traitors.”

²²Just then, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ²³The king was told, “The prophet Nathan is here.” Nathan went in and bowed down to the ground before the king.

²⁴Nathan said, “Did you, my lord the king, say, ‘Adonijah will be king after me, and he will sit on my throne’? ²⁵Today he has gone out and sacrificed a great many cattle, specially fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. They are even eating and drinking with him and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶But he has not invited me your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon. ²⁷Has this command about who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him really come from my lord the king, even though you have not made this known to your servants?”

²⁸Then King David responded, “Call Bathsheba for me.” She came in and stood before the king. ²⁹The king swore, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every tight spot, ³⁰just as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, that Solomon your son will be king after me and he will sit on my throne in my place, I will indeed make it happen this very day.”

³¹Bathsheba knelt down on the ground and bowed before the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

David Makes Solomon King

(1 Chronicles 29:21-25)^[]

³²King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” So they came in before the king.

³³The king said to them, “Take your lord's servants with you. Have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to the Gihon Spring. ³⁴There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him as king over Israel. Then you are to blow the ram's horn and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵Then you are to follow him, as he goes in and sits on my throne, and he will be king in my place. I decree that he will be leader over Israel and Judah.”

1 Corinthians 12:14-31

¹⁴Furthermore, the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not on that account cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶If the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not on that account cease to be part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸But now God has arranged the members in the body, each and every one of them, as he desired. ¹⁹If they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰But as it is, there are many members, yet one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.” ²²On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are much more necessary. ²³As for the parts of the body we consider less honorable, these we provide with more honor. We treat our unpresentable parts with more modesty, ²⁴whereas our presentable parts have no such need. But God put the body together in a way that gave more honor to the parts that lack it. ²⁵He did it so that there might not be any division in the body, but that the members might all have the same concern for one another. ²⁶So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

²⁷You are the body of Christ, and individually you are members of it. ²⁸And God appointed in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then miracles, healing gifts, helpful acts, leadership abilities, kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle workers? ³⁰Do all have healing gifts? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But eagerly seek the greater gifts. And now, I am going to show you a more excellent way.