Home > Reading > Daily Reading – September 18, 2019

Hos. 13

13:1 When Ephraim spoke, there was terror;

he was exalted in Israel,

but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.

2Even now they persist in sin!

They make metal images for themselves,

idols that they skillfully fashion from their own silver;

all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen.

There is a saying about them:

“Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!”

3Therefore they will disappear like the morning mist,

like early morning dew that evaporates,

like chaff that is blown away from a threshing floor,

like smoke that disappears through an open window.

4But I am the Lord your God,

who brought you out of Egypt.

Therefore, you must not acknowledge any God but me.

Except for me there is no Savior.

5I cared for you in the wilderness,

in the dry desert where no water was.

6When they were fed, they became satisfied;

when they were satisfied, they became proud;

as a result, they forgot me!

7So I will pounce on them like a lion;

like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

8I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs—

I will rip open their chests.

I will devour them there like a lion—

like a wild animal would tear them apart.

9I will destroy you, O Israel!

Who is there to help you?

10Where then is your king,

that he may save you in all your cities?

Where are your rulers for whom you asked, saying,

“Give me a king and princes”?

11I granted you a king in my anger,

and I will take him away in my wrath!

12The punishment of Ephraim has been decreed;

his punishment is being stored up for the future.

13The labor pains of a woman will overtake him,

but the baby will lack wisdom;

when the time arrives,

he will not come out of the womb!

14Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not!

Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not!

O Death, bring on your plagues!

O Sheol, bring on your destruction!

My eyes will not show any compassion!

15Even though he flourishes like a reed plant,

a scorching east wind will come,

a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert.

As a result, his spring will dry up;

his well will become dry.

That wind will spoil all his delightful foods

in the containers in his storehouse.

16(14:1) Samaria will be held guilty

because she rebelled against her God.

They will fall by the sword;

their infants will be dashed to the ground—

their pregnant women will be ripped open.

(NET Bible)

Ps. 78:1–35

78:1 A well-written song by Asaph.

Pay attention, my people, to my instruction.

Listen to the words I speak.

2I will sing a song that imparts wisdom;

I will make insightful observations about the past.

3What we have heard and learned—

that which our ancestors have told us—

4we will not hide from their descendants.

We will tell the next generation

about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,

about his strength and the amazing things he has done.

5He established a rule in Jacob;

he set up a law in Israel.

He commanded our ancestors

to make his deeds known to their descendants,

6so that the next generation, children yet to be born,

might know about them.

They will grow up and tell their descendants about them.

7Then they will place their confidence in God.

They will not forget the works of God,

and they will obey his commands.

8Then they will not be like their ancestors,

who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation that was not committed

and faithful to God.

9The Ephraimites were armed with bows,

but they retreated in the day of battle.

10They did not keep their covenant with God,

and they refused to obey his law.

11They forgot what he had done,

the amazing things he had shown them.

12He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors,

in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

13He divided the sea and led them across it;

he made the water stand in a heap.

14He led them with a cloud by day

and with the light of a fire all night long.

15He broke open rocks in the wilderness

and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea.

16He caused streams to flow from the rock

and made the water flow like rivers.

17Yet they continued to sin against him

and rebelled against the Most High in the desert.

18They willfully challenged God

by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.

19They insulted God, saying,

“Is God really able to give us food in the wilderness?

20Yes, he struck a rock and water flowed out;

streams gushed forth.

But can he also give us food?

Will he provide meat for his people?”

21When the Lord heard this, he was furious.

A fire broke out against Jacob,

and his anger flared up against Israel,

22because they did not have faith in God

and did not trust his ability to deliver them.

23He gave a command to the clouds above

and opened the doors in the sky.

24He rained down manna for them to eat;

he gave them the grain of heaven.

25Man ate the food of the mighty ones.

He sent them more than enough to eat.

26He brought the east wind through the sky

and by his strength led forth the south wind.

27He rained down meat on them like dust,

birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores.

28He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp,

all around their homes.

29They ate until they were beyond full;

he gave them what they desired.

30They were not yet filled up;

their food was still in their mouths

31when the anger of God flared up against them.

He killed some of the strongest of them;

he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.

32Despite all this, they continued to sin,

and did not trust him to do amazing things.

33So he caused them to die unsatisfied

and filled with terror.

34When he struck them down, they sought his favor;

they turned back and longed for God.

35They remembered that God was their protector

and that God Most High was their deliverer.

(NET Bible)

Rom. 9:27–10:4

9:27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, 28for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.” 29Just as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have resembled Gomorrah.”

30What shall we say then?—that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, 31but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it. 32Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33just as it is written,

Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble

and a rock that will make them fall,

yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.

10:1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation. 2For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth. 3For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.

(NET Bible)

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

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.

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