Faith Daily Lectio Friday, October 23, 2026 Old Testament
Friday, October 23, 2026 · St. James of Jerusalem, Brother of Jesus and Martyr (Friday in the week of the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 24)
Old Testament
Oratio (prayer)
Lord God, You redeemed Your people from bondage. Send Your Holy Spirit as I read Deuteronomy 24 and 25, that I may see my neighbor's need and the mercy You have shown me in Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Meditatio (meditation)
Deuteronomy 24:10-25:10
10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.
11Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee.
12And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:
13In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.
14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates:
15At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.
16The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge:
18But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.
19 When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
20When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
21When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
22And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.
1If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
2And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
3Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.
6And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
7And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.
8Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her;
9Then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.
10And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.
Consider even rereading in another translation.
You could also consider listening to these chapters, narrated:
KJV (Max McLean): Deuteronomy 24, 25 · ESV (Max McLean): Deuteronomy 24, 25 · NIV (dramatized): Deuteronomy 24, 25
You might read the whole reading slowly, aloud, more than once.
Consider this verse, for example:
“When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it” (Deuteronomy 24:19)
What other lines speak to you?
Moses gives Israel laws of mercy for daily life. A lender may not barge into a poor man's house for his pledge, a cloak taken in pledge goes back by sundown, and a hired worker is paid the same day. The forgotten sheaf and the last olives and grapes are left for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. Punishment has limits, the working ox is not muzzled, and a brother is to raise up a name for a brother who died without a child.
The Law Again and again God names the ones easiest to overlook: "the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow" (v. 19). He warns, "Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy" (v. 14), lest the poor man "cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee" (v. 15). We hold on to what is ours, and we go back over the boughs for the last olive. Like the brother who would not raise up a name for the dead, we are slow to carry one another's burdens.
The Gospel Behind every one of these laws stands God's own mercy: "thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence" (v. 18). You, too, were a slave, to sin and death, and Christ has redeemed you. He is the true Brother who takes your name as His own and gives you a place in His Father's house. Freely He gives you what you could never earn.
Prayer Lord God, I confess that I have held tightly to what is mine and overlooked the poor, the stranger and the grieving. Forgive me for Jesus' sake. Remind me that You redeemed me, and make me generous to my neighbor. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Tentatio (trial)
It can be hard to give when our own margins feel thin. God asks Israel to leave the forgotten sheaf in the field "that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands" (v. 19). Under trial it may help to remember that what we leave for others is never lost to God, and that He who redeemed us will provide.
Prayer Lord, when I am afraid there will not be enough, open my hand to my neighbor. Teach me to trust that You provide. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version.
My church home: Peace Lutheran Church, McMurray, PA. Looking for a church? See About Daily Lectio.
