Deuteronomy 32:15-27, 39-43 (NRSV)

​15Jacob ate his fill;
Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked.
You grew fat, bloated, and gorged!
He abandoned God who made him,
and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
16They made him jealous with strange gods,
with abhorrent things they provoked him.
17They sacrificed to demons, not God,
to deities they had never known,
to new ones recently arrived,
whom your ancestors had not feared.
18You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you;
you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19The LORD saw it, and was jealous;
he spurned his sons and daughters.
20He said: I will hide my face from them,
I will see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,
children in whom there is no faithfulness.
21They made me jealous with what is no god,
provoked me with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with what is no people,
provoke them with a foolish nation.
22For a fire is kindled by my anger,
and burns to the depths of Sheol;
it devours the earth and its increase,
and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23I will heap disasters upon them,
spend my arrows against them:
24wasting hunger,
burning consumption,
bitter pestilence.
The teeth of beasts I will send against them,
with venom of things crawling in the dust.
25In the street the sword shall bereave,
and in the chambers terror,
for young man and woman alike,
nursing child and old gray head.
26I thought to scatter them
and blot out the memory of them from humankind;
27but I feared provocation by the enemy,
for their adversaries might misunderstand
and say, "Our hand is triumphant;
it was not the LORD who did all this."
39See now that I, even I, am he;
there is no god besides me.
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and no one can deliver from my hand.
40For I lift up my hand to heaven,
and swear: As I live forever,
41when I whet my flashing sword,
and my hand takes hold on judgment;
I will take vengeance on my adversaries,
and will repay those who hate me.
42I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword shall devour flesh —
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
from the long-haired enemy.
43Praise, O heavens, his people,
worship him, all you gods!
For he will avenge the blood of his children,
 and take vengeance on his adversaries;
he will repay those who hate him,
and cleanse the land for his people.

I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the LORD whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. - Daily Bible Reading: Friday, June 24, 2022

Malachi 3:1-4 (NRSV)

​John the Baptist

1See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the LORD whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight — indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; 3he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.

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.