+ DAILY PRAYER +
Reading Deut 1313 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams and he gives to you a sign or wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes about that he spoke to you, ?saying?, ‘Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,’…
This Daily Devotion covers the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy also called the Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, in a period of one year in a Monday through Friday format, the Psalms and order of devotion follow those presented in The Treasury of Daily Prayer from Concordia Publishing House.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;
He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 125
1 A Song of Ascents.
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people,
from this time forth and forevermore.
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.
4 Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts!
5 But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
the LORD will lead away with evildoers!
Peace be upon Israel!
Reading Deut 13
13 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams and he gives to you a sign or wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes about that he spoke to you, ?saying?, ‘Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,’ 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God ?is testing you to know whether you love? Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your inner self. 4 You shall go after Yahweh your God, and him you shall revere, and his commandment you shall keep, and to his voice you shall listen, and him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. 5 But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the one bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the one redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so in this way you shall purge the evil from your midst.
6 “If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter ?or your wife whom you embrace? or ?your intimate friend? in secrecy ?says?, ‘Let us go and let us serve other gods!’ gods that you and your ancestors have not known, 7 from among the gods of the people who are around you, ?those near you or those far from you?, from one end of the earth and up to the other end of the earth, 8 you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover up for him. 9 But you shall certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to kill him and next the hand of all of the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones and let him die, for he tried to seduce you from Yahweh your God, the one bringing you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 11 And all of Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and ?they shall not continue to act? according to this evil thing in your midst.
12 “If you hear in one of your towns which Yahweh your God is giving to you to live in, someone ?saying that? 13 ?worthless men? have gone out from your midst and have seduced the inhabitants of their town, ?saying?, ‘Let us go and serve other gods!’ whom you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and examine and interrogate thoroughly, and, look! It is true; the thing has actually been done, this detestable thing in your midst, 15 then you shall certainly strike down the inhabitants of that town with the ?edge? of the sword; you shall destroy it and everything in it, its domestic animals with the ?edge? of the sword. 16 And then you shall gather all of its booty into the middle of its public square, and you shall burn the town and all of its war-booty totally for Yahweh your God, and it shall be ?a pile of rubble forever?; it shall not be built again. 17 And let not something cling to your hand from the things devoted to destruction, so that Yahweh may turn back ?from his burning anger?, and he may show compassion to you and he may continue to show compassion and so multiply you ?just as he swore? to your ancestors, 18 if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all of his commandments that I am commanding to you ?today? so as to do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh your God.”
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Lord and Giver of all good things, the same powers that crucified Jesus persecuted Paul as he bore on his body the marks of Jesus for preaching Christ crucified. Give us faith to believe that no matter what suffering we endure for the sake of Christ it is all gift and it is all good, so that, with Paul, we may rejoice in suffering as we bear on our bodies the marks of Jesus; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Concluding Prayer
Heavenly Father, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts to direct and rule us according to Your will, to comfort us in all our afflictions, to defend us from all error, and to lead us into all truth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
