Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied,...

Daily Bible Reading: Sunday, July 2, 2023

Jeremiah 28:5-9 (NRSV)

​Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

5Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD; 6and the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. 7But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet."

Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.

Daily Bible Reading: Sunday, June 25, 2023

Jeremiah 20:7-13 (NRSV)

​Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

7O LORD, you have enticed me,
and I was enticed;
you have overpowered me,
and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8For whenever I speak, I must cry out,
I must shout, "Violence and destruction!"
For the word of the LORD has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
9If I say, "I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,"
then within me there is something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10For I hear many whispering:
"Terror is all around!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!"
All my close friends
are watching for me to stumble.
"Perhaps he can be enticed,
and we can prevail against him,
and take our revenge on him."
11But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous,
you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
13Sing to the LORD;
praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hands of evildoers.

But they say, "It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will."
Therefore thus says the LORD: Ask among the nations: Who has heard the like of this?

Daily Bible Reading: Thursday, June 22, 2023

Jeremiah 18:12-17 (NRSV)

​12But they say, "It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will."
13Therefore thus says the LORD:
Ask among the nations:
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel has done
a most horrible thing.
14Does the snow of Lebanon leave
the crags of Sirion?
Do the mountain waters run dry,
the cold flowing streams?
15But my people have forgotten me,
they burn offerings to a delusion;
they have stumbled in their ways,
in the ancient roads,
and have gone into bypaths,
not the highway,
16making their land a horror,
a thing to be hissed at forever.
All who pass by it are horrified
and shake their heads.
17Like the wind from the east,
I will scatter them before the enemy.
I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the LORD;
say to him, "Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.

Daily Bible Reading: Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Hosea 14:1-9 (NRSV)

​1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2Take words with you
and return to the LORD;
say to him,
"Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer
the fruit of our lips.
3Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride upon horses;
we will say no more, 'Our God,'
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy."
4I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily,
he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.
6His shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
7They shall again live beneath my shadow,
they shall flourish as a garden;
they shall blossom like the vine,
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
your faithfulness comes from me.
9Those who are wise understand these things;
those who are discerning know them.
For the ways of the LORD are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.

Come, let us return to the LORD; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up.

Daily Bible Reading: Sunday, June 11, 2023

Hosea 5:15--6:6 (NRSV)

​Second Sunday after Pentecost

5:15I will return again to my place

until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.
In their distress they will beg my favor:

6:1Come, let us return to the LORD;
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
2After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

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.