At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.

Daily Bible Reading: Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Numbers 13:17-27

17Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up there into the Negeb, and go up into the hill country, 18and see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the towns that they live in are unwalled  or fortified, 20and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be bold, and bring some of the fruit of the land." Now it was the season of the first ripe grapes. 

21So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22They went up into the Negeb, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the Anakites, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23And they came to the Wadi Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them. They also brought  some pomegranates and figs. 24That place was called the Wadi Eshcol, because of the cluster that the Israelites cut down from there.

‍25At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.26And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.27And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the LORD your God,

Daily Bible Reading: Friday, March 07, 2025

Exodus 6:1-13

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh: Indeed, by a mighty hand he will let them go; by a mighty hand he will drive them out of  his land."  

2God also spoke to Moses  and said to him: "I am the LORD. 3I appeared to Abraham,  Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name 'The LORD' I did not make  myself known to them. 4I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens. 5I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians are holding as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6Say therefore to the Israelites, 'I am the LORD, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. 8I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'" 9Moses told this to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.

10Then the LORD spoke to Moses,11Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land. 12But Moses spoke to the LORD,"The Israelites have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?" 13Thus the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them orders regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, charging them to free the Israelites from the land of Egypt.

The LORD has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around.

Daily Bible Reading: Tuesday, February 11, 2025

1 Samuel 9:15 -- 10:1b (NRSV)

9:15Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel: 16Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the suffering of my people, because their outcry has come to me. 17When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, "Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. He it is who shall rule over my people." 18Then Saul approached Samuel inside the gate, and said, "Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer?" 19Samuel answered Saul, "I am the seer; go up before me to the shrine, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. 20As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, give no further thought to them, for they have been found. And on whom is all Israel's desire fixed, if not on you and on all your ancestral house?" 21Saul answered, "I am only a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the humblest of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Why then have you spoken to me in this way?"

22Then Samuel took Saul and his servant-boy and brought them into the hall, and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, of whom there were about thirty. 23And Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the portion I gave you, the one I asked you to put aside." 24The cook took up the thigh and what went with it and set them before Saul. Samuel said, "See, what was kept is set before you. Eat; for it is set before you at the appointed time, so that you might eat with the guests."

So Saul ate with Samuel that day. 25When they came down from the shrine into the town, a bed was spread for Saul on the roof, and he lay down to sleep. 26Then at the break of dawn Samuel called to Saul upon the roof, "Get up, so that I may send you on your way." Saul got up, and both he and Samuel went out into the street.

27As they were going down to the outskirts of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the boy to go on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God."

10:1Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him; he said, "The LORD has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around. Now this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you ruler over his heritage:

Daily Bible Reading: Thursday, February 27, 2025

Psalm 99

1The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!  

He sits  enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!

‍2The LORD is great in Zion;

he is  exalted over all the peoples.

‍3Let them praise your great and awesome  name.

Holy is he!

‍4Mighty King, lover of justice,

you have  established equity;

you have  executed justice

and  righteousness in Jacob.

‍5Extol the LORD our God;

worship at his footstool.

Holy is he!

‍6Moses and Aaron were among his priests,

Samuel also  was among those who called on his name.

They cried  to the LORD, and he answered them.

‍7He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;

they kept  his decrees,

and the  statutes that he gave them.

‍8O LORD our God, you answered them;

you were a forgiving God to them,

but an avenger of their wrongdoings.

‍9Extol the LORD our God,

and worship at his holy mountain;

for the LORD our Godis holy.

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