Daily Bible Reading: Monday, October 23, 2023

Revelation 18:1-10, 19-20 (NRSV)

1After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor. 2He called out with a mighty voice,
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
It has become a dwelling place of demons,
a haunt of every foul spirit,
a haunt of every foul bird,
a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.
3For all the nations have drunk
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich
from the power of her luxury."

4Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
"Come out of her, my people,
so that you do not take part in her sins,
and so that you do not share in her plagues;
5for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
6Render to her as she herself has rendered,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.
7As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,
so give her a like measure of torment and grief.
Since in her heart she says,
"I rule as a queen;
I am no widow,
and I will never see grief,'
8therefore her plagues will come in a single day
pestilence and mourning and famine
and she will be burned with fire;
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her."

9And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; 10they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
"Alas, alas, the great city,
Babylon, the mighty city!
For in one hour your judgment has come."

19And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out,
"Alas, alas, the great city,
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For in one hour she has been laid waste.
20Rejoice over her, O heaven,
you saints and apostles and prophets!
For God has given judgment for you against her."

And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Daily Bible Reading: Thursday, October 12, 2023

1 Peter 5:1-5, 12-14 (NRSV)

1Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you 2to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it — not for sordid gain but eagerly. 3Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. 4And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. 5In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for
"God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble."

12Through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. 13Your sister church in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark. 14Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

So there was a division in the crowd because of him.

Daily Bible Reading: Saturday, October 7, 2023

John 7:40-52 (NRSV)

40When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, "This is really the prophet." 41Others said, "This is the Messiah." But some asked, "Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? 42Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?" 43So there was a division in the crowd because of him. 44Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

45Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why did you not arrest him?" 46The police answered, "Never has anyone spoken like this!" 47Then the Pharisees replied, "Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? 48Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49But this crowd, which does not know the law — they are accursed." 50Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, 51Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it? 52They replied, "Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee."

ELCA's daily Bible readings are chosen from "Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings," prepared by Consultation on the Common Texts, © 2005.
All text is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches USA, and is used by permission. All rights reserved.