First Reading

Burnin' Bush Lectionary Date: September 3, 2023 [14th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] Tim has an angle (or is it an "angel"?) on this pivotal Exodus scene.

Scheming Women Lectionary Date: August 27, 2023 [13th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] We're back! And Rosy is up with a feminist-postcolonial perspective on the midwives of Exodus.

From the Vault: The Best of First Reading Lectionary Date: August 20, 2023 [12th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] An encore presentation of our episode from 2020.

From the Vault: The Best of First Reading Lectionary Date: August 13, 2023 [11th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] An encore presentation of our episode from 2020.

From the Vault: The Best of First Reading Lectionary Date: August 6, 2023 [10th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] An encore presentation of our episode from 2020.

From the Vault: The Best of First Reading Lectionary Date: July 30, 2023 [9th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] This week we revisit our fascinating conversation with Dr. Cameron Howard, Associate Professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. She is a graduate of Emory University, and has contributed to several commentaries and journals, including the Women’s Bible Commentary, WorkingPreacher.org, and the BibleOdyssey.org. The book she was working on in 2020 is now available! The Old Testament for a Complex World needs to be on your shelf yesterday!

From the Vault: The Best of First Reading Lectionary Date: July 23, 2023 [8th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] An encore presentation of our episode from 2020.

From the Vault: The Best of First Reading Lectionary Date: July 16, 2023 [7th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] An encore presentation of our episode from 2020.

On the Road Again Lectionary Date: July 9, 2023 [6th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] Paul jumps into a famous love story and finds a biblical travelogue.

Abraham's Covenant Choice Lectionary Date: July 2, 2023 [5th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] Rosy goes for the jugular in this challenging biblical text.

An Unfair Disinheritance Lectionary Date: June 25, 2023 [4th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] Paul wades into a challenging text to offer insight, context, and even some resistance.

(S)he Laughs Lectionary Date: June 18, 2023 [3rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] Rosy has some great insights into a mysterious birth announcement.

Party Episode! Lectionary Date: June 11, 2023 [2nd Sunday after Pentecost, Year A] Rachel, Rosy, and Tim talk about Abram's call and Hosea's sin-sickness.

Bereshit Bara' Elohim Lectionary Date: June 4, 2023 [Trinity Sunday, Year A] Rachel offers some mystical reflections on a familiar text.

Eldad and Medad Lectionary Date: May 28, 2023 [Day of Pentecost, Year A] It's an OT outpouring of the Holy Spirit for this Pentecost text!

The One Who Rides Upon the Clouds Lectionary Date: May 21, 2023 [7th Sunday of Easter, Year A] It's Ascension Week! Tim tries to show that Jesus' ascension was NOT an anticlimax to the Gospel.

They/We/I Give Thanks! Lectionary Date: May 14, 2023 [6th Sunday of Easter, Year A] This week, we dip into the First Reading archive for a second listen to our episode on this Easter psalm.

Let Your Heart be Emboldened, You who Wait for the Lord Lectionary Date: May 7, 2023 [5th Sunday of Easter, Year A] Rosy and Paul are joined this week by special guest, Bill Brown. Bill is Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA, and an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is also the author of several books, including Seeing the Psalms: A Theology of Metaphor (2002), God and the Imagination: A Primer to Reading the Psalms in an Age of Pluralism (2001), and Deep Calls to Deep: The Psalms in Dialogue amid Disruption (2021). Those are just some his titles directly on the Psalms, friends! Some of you may remember using his Handbook to Old Testament Exegesis (2017) which has become an OT seminary classroom staple for many of us as students and teachers.

A Shepherd's Perspective on the Shepherd Psalm Lectionary Date: April 30, 2023 [4th Sunday of Easter, Year A] Paul reads the famous psalm through the eyes of his grandmother in Ghana.

When I was Hanging by a Thread Lectionary Date: April 23, 2023 [3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A] Tim looks at a prayer of thanksgiving with a theme of new life.