Home > Reading > Daily Reading – April 28, 2019

Proverbs 10:1–17 (ESV)

The Proverbs of Solomon

10 The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
but righteousness delivers from death.

The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

The memory of the righteous is a blessing,
but the name of the wicked will rot.

The wise of heart will receive commandments,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

10  Whoever winks the eye causes trouble,
and a babbling fool will come to ruin.

11  The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

12  Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses.

13  On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found,
but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.

14  The wise lay up knowledge,
but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

15  A rich man’s wealth is his strong city;
the poverty of the poor is their ruin.

16  The wage of the righteous leads to life,
the gain of the wicked to sin.

17  Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.

Psalm 109 (ESV)

Help Me, O Lord My God

109 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Be not silent, O God of my praise!

For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.

They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.

In return for my love they accuse me,
but I give myself to prayer.

So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.

Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.

When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his prayer be counted as sin!

May his days be few;
may another take his office!

May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow!

10  May his children wander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!

11  May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!

12  Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
nor any to pity his fatherless children!

13  May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation!

14  May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!

15  Let them be before the Lord continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

16  For he did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued the poor and needy
and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.

17  He loved to curse; let curses come upon him!
He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!

18  He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
may it soak into his body like water,
like oil into his bones!

19  May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
like a belt that he puts on every day!

20  May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
of those who speak evil against my life!

21  But you, O God my Lord,
deal on my behalf for your name’s sake;
because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!

22  For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.

23  I am gone like a shadow at evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.

24  My knees are weak through fasting;
my body has become gaunt, with no fat.

25  I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they wag their heads.

26  Help me, O Lord my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!

27  Let them know that this is your hand;
you, O Lord, have done it!

28  Let them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!

29  May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!

30  With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

31  For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.

Hebrews 11:29–40 (ESV)

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

On April 28, thus ten days later [a er Worms], [Luther] wrote his well-known letter to Emperor Charles. … “But I, who was always humble and zealously ready to do and to suffer all that in me lay, could not obtain this one concession, this most Christian prayer, that the Word of God should remain free and unbound, and that I should submit my books to your Sacred Majesty and the Estates of the Empire on that condition, nor that in yielding to the decree of a Council I should not submit to anything contrary to the gospel of God, nor should they make any such decree. is was the crux of the whole controversy.” Luther then continues: “For God, the searcher of hearts, is my witness that I am most ready to submit to and obey your Majesty either in life or in death, to glory or to shame, for gain or for loss. As I have o ered myself, thus I do now, excepting nothing save the Word of God, in which not only (as Christ teaches in Matthew 4) does man live, but which also the angels of Christ  desire to see (I Peter 1). As it is above all things it ought to be held free and unbound in all, as Paul teaches (II Timothy 2:9). It ought not to depend on human judgment nor to yield to the opinion of men, no matter how great, how numerous, how learned, and how holy they are. Thus does St. Paul in Galatians. I dare to exclaim with emphasis, ‘If we or an angel from heaven teach you another gospel, let him be anathema,’ and David says, ‘Put not your trust in princes, in the sons of men, in whom is no safety,’ Ps. 146:3. Nor is anyone able to trust in himself, as Solomon says, ‘He is a fool who trusts in his heart’; Prov. 28:26, and Jeremiah 17, ‘Cursed is he who trusteth in man’ … For to trust in man in matters of salvation is to give to the creature the glory due to the creator alone.” (20–21)

–Johann Michael Reu, Luther on the Scriptures

This daily Bible reading guide, Reading the Word of God, was conceived and prepared as a result of the ongoing discussions between representatives of three church bodies: Lutheran Church—Canada (LCC), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The following individuals have represented their church bodies and approved this introduction and the reading guide: LCC: President Robert Bugbee; NALC: Bishop John Bradosky, Revs. Mark Chavez, James Nestingen, and David Wendel; LCMS: Revs. Albert Collver, Joel Lehenbauer, John Pless, and Larry Vogel.

Learn More