Daily Lectionary

Joel 2:18-32

¹⁸ Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.
¹⁹ The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
²⁰ “I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.
²¹ “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things!
²² Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
²³ “Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.
²⁴ “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
²⁵ I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
²⁶ “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
²⁷ You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
²⁸ “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
³⁰ “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
³¹ The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
³² And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. (ESV)

Romans 11:25-12:13

²⁵ Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
²⁷ “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
²⁸ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
³⁰ For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.
³² For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”
³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;
⁷ if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;
⁸ the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (ESV)