Home > Reading > Daily Reading – August 26, 2019

2 Kings 21:19–22:7

21:19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah. 20He did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. 21He followed in the footsteps of his father and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols that his father had worshiped. 22He abandoned the Lord, God of his ancestors, and did not follow the Lord’s instructions. 23Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. 24The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

25The rest of Amon’s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 26He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.

22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath. 2He did what the Lord approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.

3In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders: 4“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door. 5Have them hand it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn should pay the temple workers to repair it, 6including craftsmen, builders, and masons, and should buy wood and chiseled stone for the repair work. 7Do not audit the foremen who disburse the silver, for they are honest.”

(NET Bible)

Ps. 55

55:1 For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song by David.

Listen, O God, to my prayer.

Do not ignore my appeal for mercy.

2Pay attention to me and answer me.

I am so upset and distressed, I am beside myself,

3because of what the enemy says,

and because of how the wicked pressure me,

for they hurl trouble down upon me

and angrily attack me.

4My heart beats violently within me;

the horrors of death overcome me.

5Fear and panic overpower me;

terror overwhelms me.

6I say, “I wish I had wings like a dove.

I would fly away and settle in a safe place.

7Look, I will escape to a distant place;

I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)

8I will hurry off to a place that is safe

from the strong wind and the gale.”

9Confuse them, O Lord.

Frustrate their plans.

For I see violence and conflict in the city.

10Day and night they walk around on its walls,

while wickedness and destruction are within it.

11Disaster is within it;

violence and deceit do not depart from its public square.

12Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me,

or else I could bear it;

it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me,

or else I could hide from him.

13But it is you, a man like me,

my close friend in whom I confided.

14We would share personal thoughts with each other;

in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.

15May death destroy them.

May they go down alive into Sheol.

For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst.

16As for me, I will call out to God,

and the Lord will deliver me.

17During the evening, morning, and noontime

I will lament and moan,

and he will hear me.

18He will rescue me and protect me from those who attack me,

even though they greatly outnumber me.

19God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago,

will hear and humiliate them. (Selah)

They refuse to change,

and do not fear God.

20He attacks his friends;

he breaks his solemn promises to them.

21His words are as smooth as butter,

but he harbors animosity in his heart.

His words seem softer than oil,

but they are really like sharp swords.

22Throw your burden upon the Lord,

and he will sustain you.

He will never allow the godly to be shaken.

23But you, O God, will bring them down to the deep Pit.

Violent and deceitful people will not live even half a normal life-span.

But as for me, I trust in you.

(NET Bible)

Matt. 26:1–16

26:1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he told his disciples, 2“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” 3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people met together in the palace of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas. 4They planned to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5But they said, “Not during the feast, so that there won’t be a riot among the people.”

6Now while Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of expensive perfumed oil, and she poured it on his head as he was at the table. 8When the disciples saw this, they became indignant and said, “Why this waste? 9It could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor!” 10When Jesus learned of this, he said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a good service for me. 11For you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me! 12When she poured this oil on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

14Then one of the twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15and said, “What will you give me to betray him into your hands?” So they set out 30 silver coins for him. 16From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray him.

(NET Bible)

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.

Luther was not unaware of the difficulties that arise when parallel passages in the Gospels are compared with each other. So in the Lenten Postil, of 1525, he discusses the order of time in the three temptations of our Lord. He makes this statement: “The order in which these temptations came to Christ cannot be determined with certainty, for the evangelists do not agree. What Matthew places in the middle, Luke places at the end, and what he places in the middle, Matthew places at the end, as though he  placed little importance on the order. If we want to preach about it or discuss it, the order of Luke would be the best, for it makes a fine sequence that the devil first attacks through need and misfortune and, when this does not bring results, follows with fortune and honor. Finally, when this is all in vain, he strikes out with all force with errors, lies, and other spiritual deceits. But because they do not occur thus in our daily experience, but, as it happens, a Christian is tempted now with the last, now with the first, Matthew did not pay much attention to the order, as would be fitting for a preacher. And perhaps Christ was so tempted during the forty days that the devil did not observe any particular order but came today with the one temptation, tomorrow with the other, after ten days again with the first and so on as it happened to take place.” (45)

–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.

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