Home > Reading > Daily Reading – September 24, 2019

Joel 2:18–27

2:18 Then the Lord became zealous for his land;

he had compassion on his people.

19The Lord responded to his people,

“Look! I am about to restore your grain

as well as fresh wine and olive oil.

You will be fully satisfied.

I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.

20I will remove the one from the north far from you.

I will drive him out to a dry and desolate place.

Those in front will be driven eastward into the Dead Sea,

and those in back westward into the Mediterranean Sea.

His stench will rise up as a foul smell.”

Indeed, the Lord has accomplished great things!

21Do not fear, my land.

Rejoice and be glad

because the Lord has accomplished great things!

22Do not fear, wild animals.

For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass.

Indeed, the trees bear their fruit;

the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest.

23Citizens of Zion, rejoice!

Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done!

For he has given to you the early rains as vindication.

He has sent to you the rains—

both the early and the late rains as formerly.

24The threshing floors are full of grain;

the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil.

25“I will make up for the years

that the ‘arbeh-locust consumed your crops—

the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust—

my great army that I sent against you.

26You will have plenty to eat,

and your hunger will be fully satisfied;

you will praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has acted wondrously in your behalf.

My people will never again be put to shame.

27You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel.

I am the Lord your God; there is no other.

My people will never again be put to shame.

(NET Bible)

Ps. 83

83:1 A song, a psalm of Asaph.

O God, do not be silent.

Do not ignore us. Do not be inactive, O God.

2For look, your enemies are making a commotion;

those who hate you are hostile.

3They carefully plot against your people,

and make plans to harm the ones you cherish.

4They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation.

Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”

5Yes, they devise a unified strategy;

they form an alliance against you.

6It includes the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites,

7Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,

Philistia, and the inhabitants of Tyre.

8Even Assyria has allied with them,

lending its strength to the descendants of Lot. (Selah)

9Do to them as you did to Midian—

as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.

10They were destroyed at Endor;

their corpses were like manure on the ground.

11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,

and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12who said, “Let’s take over the pastures of God.”

13O my God, make them like dead thistles,

like dead weeds blown away by the wind.

14Like the fire that burns down the forest,

or the flames that consume the mountainsides,

15chase them with your gale winds

and terrify them with your windstorm.

16Cover their faces with shame,

so they might seek you, O Lord.

17May they be humiliated and continually terrified.

May they die in shame.

18Then they will know that you alone are the Lord,

the Most High over all the earth.

(NET Bible)

Rom. 13:1–14

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment 3(for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation 4because it is God’s servant for your well-being. But be afraid if you do wrong because government does not bear the sword for nothing. It is God’s servant to administer punishment on the person who does wrong. 5Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities but also because of your conscience. 6For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants devoted to governing. 7Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

8Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments, “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

11And do this because we know the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers. 12The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. 13Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.

(NET Bible)

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

In his Exposition of the Prophet Zechariah, of 1527, in the explanation of the passage 11:12 ., Luther raises the question, “Why does Matthew (27:9) attribute the text of the thirty pieces of silver to the prophet Jeremiah when it appears here in Zechariah?” He answers: “It is true, this and similar questions do not mean much to me since they are of no particular profit, and Matthew has done enough when he has cited a genuine text even if he does not have the correct name, just as in other places he cites texts but does not give them in the exact words of Scripture; we can pass that by, and it does no harm that he does not use the exact words, for the sense has been preserved, and so here, what does it matter if he does not give the name exactly, because more depends on the words than on the name. And that is the manner of all apostles who do the same thing, citing the statements of Scripture without such meticulous care concerning the text. Wherefore it would be much harder to question their procedure than to question Matthew here about the name of Jeremiah. Let anyone who loves idle questions ask on. He will find more to question than he can answer.” (49)

–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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