1 Chron. 14:1–17
14:1 King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters to build a palace for him. 2David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
3In Jerusalem David married more wives and fathered more sons and daughters. 4These are the names of children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.
8When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of all Israel, all the Philistines marched up to confront him. When David heard about it, he marched out against them. 9Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley of Rephaim. 10David asked God, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to him, “March up! I will hand them over to you!” 11So they marched against Baal Perazim and David defeated them there. David said, “Using me as his instrument, God has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So that place is called Baal Perazim. 12The Philistines left their idols there, so David ordered that they be burned.
13The Philistines again raided the valley. 14So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, “Don’t march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees. 15When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, then attack. For at that moment God is going before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 16David did just as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.
17So David became famous in all the lands; the Lord caused all the nations to fear him.
(NET Bible)Ps. 118
118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.
2Let Israel say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
3Let the family of Aaron say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
4Let the loyal followers of the Lord say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
5In my distress I cried out to the Lord.
The Lord answered me and put me in a wide open place.
6The Lord is on my side; I am not afraid.
What can people do to me?
7The Lord is on my side as my helper.
I look in triumph on those who hate me.
8It is better to take shelter in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9It is better to take shelter in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10All the nations surrounded me.
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
11They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
12They surrounded me like bees.
But they disappeared as quickly as a fire among thorns.
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
13“You aggressively attacked me and tried to knock me down,
but the Lord helped me.
14The Lord gives me strength and protects me;
he has become my deliverer.”
15They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly.
The Lord’s right hand conquers.
16The Lord’s right hand gives victory;
the Lord’s right hand conquers.
17I will not die, but live,
and I will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18The Lord severely punished me,
but he did not hand me over to death.
19Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple.
I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20This is the Lord’s gate—
the godly enter through it.
21I will give you thanks, for you answered me,
and have become my deliverer.
22The stone that the builders discarded
has become the cornerstone.
23This is the Lord’s work.
We consider it amazing!
24This is the day the Lord has brought about.
We will be happy and rejoice in it.
25Please, Lord, deliver!
Please, Lord, grant us success!
26May the one who comes in the name of the Lord be blessed.
We will pronounce blessings on you in the Lord’s temple.
27The Lord is God, and he has delivered us.
Tie the offering with ropes
to the horns of the altar.
28You are my God, and I will give you thanks.
You are my God, and I will praise you.
29Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures.
(NET Bible)Mark 14:3–21
14:3 Now while Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of costly aromatic oil from pure nard. After breaking open the jar, she poured it on his head. 4But some who were present indignantly said to one another, “Why this waste of expensive ointment? 5It could have been sold for more than 300 silver coins and the money given to the poor!” So they spoke angrily to her. 6But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a good service for me. 7For you will always have the poor with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want. But you will not always have me! 8She did what she could. She anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
10Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus into their hands. 11When they heard this, they were delighted and promised to give him money. So Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray him.
12Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13He sent two of his disciples and told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 15He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 16So the disciples left, went into the city, and found things just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
17Then, when it was evening, he came to the house with the twelve. 18While they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me will betray me.” 19They were distressed, and one by one said to him, “Surely not I?” 20He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips his hand with me into the bowl. 21For the Son of Man will go as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had never been born.”
(NET Bible)
No matter how emphatically Luther emphasized the inerrancy and the consistency of the original text of Holy Scripture as the work of the Holy Ghost, he is also, on the other hand, convinced of the personal cooperation of the original authors. They are not, in his opinion, mechanical instruments and dead machines, mere amanuenses who set down on paper only what was dictated to them by the Spirit of God. He regarded them rather as independent instruments of the Spirit who spoke their faith, their heart, their thoughts; who put their entire will and feeling into the words to such an extent that from what Luther reads in each case he draws conclusions concerning the character and the temperament of the authors. So [according to Luther] the Prophet Joel reveals himself in his writing as a “gracious and gentle man, who does not scold and censure like the other prophets but implores and bewails.” Amos, on the other hand, is “violent, scolding almost all the way through his book, so that he is well called, Amos, that is a burden or what is burdensome and vexatious”; and he explains this as being due to his calling and from the fact that he was sent as a “stranger” from the Kingdom of Judah to the Kingdom of Israel, for, he continues, “because he is a shepherd and not one of the order of the prophets, as he says in the seventh chapter, moreover, he goes from the branch of Judah, from Tekoa, into the Kingdom of Israel and preaches there as a stranger.” Of Jeremiah, however, Luther says that he is always afraid that he censures too much, for which reason he compares him with Philip Melanchthon. In Paul he observes the deepest emotion because of his writings and can say of his words, “these words are violent above mea- sure, from which it is easy to see that he was much more violently moved than he was able to express in words.” Yes, he adds, “So it has come about that St. Paul under the influence of his intense thought could not control his own word so well, and his speech has become somewhat disordered and peculiar.” (60)
–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.