Hos. 11
11:1 “When Israel was a young man, I loved him like a son,
and I summoned my son out of Egypt.
2But the more I summoned them,
the farther they departed from me.
They sacrificed to the Baal idols
and burned incense to images.
3Yet it was I who led Ephraim;
I took them by the arm,
but they did not acknowledge
that I had healed them.
4I drew them with leather cords,
with straps of hide;
I lifted the yoke from their neck
and gently fed them.
5They will return to Egypt!
Assyria will rule over them
because they refuse to repent!
6A sword will flash in their cities;
it will destroy the bars of their city gates,
and will devour them in their fortresses.
7My people are obsessed with turning away from me;
they call to Baal, but he will never exalt them!
8“How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?
I have had a change of heart.
All my tender compassions are aroused.
9I cannot carry out my fierce anger!
I cannot totally destroy Ephraim!
Because I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you—
I will not come in wrath!
10“He will roar like a lion,
and they will follow the Lord;
when he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.
11They will return in fear and trembling
like birds from Egypt,
like doves from Assyria,
and I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord.
12(12:1) Ephraim has surrounded me with lies;
the house of Israel has surrounded me with deceit.
But Judah still roams about with God;
he remains faithful to the Holy One.
(NET Bible)Ps. 76
76:1 For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of Asaph, a song.
God has revealed himself in Judah;
in Israel his reputation is great.
2He lives in Salem;
he dwells in Zion.
3There he shattered the arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the rest of the weapons of war. (Selah)
4You shine brightly and reveal your majesty,
as you descend from the hills where you killed your prey.
5The bravehearted were plundered;
they “fell asleep.”
All the warriors were helpless.
6At the sound of your battle cry, O God of Jacob,
both rider and horse “fell asleep.”
7You are awesome! Yes, you!
Who can withstand your intense anger?
8From heaven you announced what their punishment would be.
The earth was afraid and silent
9when God arose to execute judgment,
and to deliver all the oppressed of the earth. (Selah)
10Certainly your angry judgment upon men will bring you praise;
you reveal your anger in full measure.
11Make vows to the Lord your God and repay them.
Let all those who surround him bring tribute to the awesome one.
12He humbles princes;
the kings of the earth regard him as awesome.
(NET Bible)Rom. 8:18–39
8:18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. 19For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope 21that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.
26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will. 28And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 29because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
31What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(NET Bible)
Here we might add what Luther said in 1528 in his Vom Abendmahl Christi, Bekenntnis … “So we must say that Matthew and Mark have placed after the New Supper what took place after the old Supper and is to be located there. For they were not greatly concerned about the order but were satisfied if they wrote history and truth. Luke, however, who wrote after them, states that the reason for his writing was that many others had written such accounts without regard to the order of events, and that he, therefore, had resolved to write them in proper order.” (47–48)
–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.