Alternate First Reading

2 Samuel 23:3-4
Commentary on 2 Samuel 23:1-7

On this Christ the King Sunday, we hear about the ideal king from the “sweet [...]

Matthew 6:3
Commentary on Isaiah 58:1-12

Ash Wednesday carries with it an annual tension between empty, external and genuine, radical acts [...]

Acts 2:6
Commentary on Genesis 11:1-9

This text is offered as an alternative First Reading for the Day of Pentecost, with [...]

Luke 8:32
Commentary on 1 Kings 19:1-4 [5-7] 8-15a

This chapter is well represented in the lectionary, and provides [...]

Galatians 5:25
Commentary on 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Elijah is one of only two people in the Old [...]

Luke 10:5
Commentary on 2 Kings 5:1-14

The story of the healing of Naaman is about entitlement, power, and pride. It is [...]

Luke 10:34
Commentary on Amos 7:7-17

Amos and Amaziah offer a cautionary tale for contemporary preachers. Delivering a word from the [...]

Genesis 18:6
Commentary on Amos 8:1-12

Amos was the earliest of the prophetic books, focused on the ultimate consequences of Israel’s [...]

Luke 11:10
Commentary on Hosea 1:2-10

In Hosea 1, God commands the prophet Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman named Gomer, [...]

Luke 12:18
Commentary on Hosea 11:1-11

Hosea 11 depicts God’s compassion for God’s people despite their rejection.   It offers a [...]