Faith Daily Lectio Saturday, October 24, 2026 Old Testament

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Saturday, October 24, 2026 · Saturday in the week of the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 24)

Old Testament

Deuteronomy 25:17-26:19

Israel walks between towering walls of sea under a pillar of fire and a hand reaching from the clouds.

Oratio (prayer)

Lord God, You brought Your people out of Egypt and gave them a good land. Send Your Holy Spirit as I read Deuteronomy 25 and 26, that I may remember Your mercy and offer You a thankful heart in Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Meditatio (meditation)

Deuteronomy 25:17-26:19

17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;

18How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.

19Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.

1And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;

2That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.

3And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us.

4And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God.

5And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:

6And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:

7And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:

8And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:

9And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.

10And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:

11And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

12 When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;

13Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:

14I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.

15Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

16 This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

17Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:

18And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;

19And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.

Consider even rereading in another translation.

Other translations: NIV · ESV

You could also consider listening to these chapters, narrated:

You might read the whole reading slowly, aloud, more than once.

Consider this verse, for example:

“thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee” (Deuteronomy 26:11)

What other lines speak to you?

Moses tells Israel to remember Amalek, who attacked the weary stragglers on the road out of Egypt. Then he teaches them how to give thanks in the land. Each household is to bring its firstfruits in a basket to the place God chooses and confess God's history with them, from a wandering father to a mighty rescue. The tithe of the third year is shared with the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. Israel avouches the LORD as their God, and the LORD avouches Israel as His own people.

The Law Amalek "smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee" (25:18), and "he feared not God" (25:18). We are quick to see Amalek in others and slow to see how often we pass by the weak ourselves. Moses also says, "thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul" (26:16), and we have not. Even the gifts we bring were first given to us, for Israel had to confess, "A Syrian ready to perish was my father" (26:5).

The Gospel "And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice" (26:7). God heard, and "the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm" (26:8). He has done the same for you in Jesus, whose arms were stretched out on the cross to bring you out of sin and death. Now "the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people" (26:18). You belong to Him, not because of your offering, but because of His.

Prayer Lord God, I confess that I have forgotten Your mercy, passed by the weak, and held back my firstfruits. Forgive me for Jesus' sake. Teach me to remember what You have done and to give with a thankful heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Tentatio (trial)

Weariness makes us easy targets, as it did for the stragglers Amalek struck. Under trial it may help to do what Israel was taught to do in the land: tell again the story of what God has done, and "rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee" (26:11), even when the day feels thin.

Prayer Lord, when I am faint and weary, guard me from the enemy and keep me near Your people. Give me a thankful heart that remembers Your mighty hand. 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.

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