Jer. 49:23–33
49:23 The Lord spoke about Damascus:
“The people of Hamath and Arpad will be dismayed
because they have heard bad news.
Their courage will melt away because of worry.
Their hearts will not be able to rest.
24The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to flee.
Panic will grip them.
Pain and anguish will seize them
like a woman in labor.
25How deserted will that once-famous city be,
that city that was once filled with joy!
26For her young men will fall in her city squares.
All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
27“I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;
it will burn up the palaces of Ben Hadad.”
28The Lord spoke about Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered:
“Army of Babylon, go and attack Kedar.
Lay waste those who live in the eastern desert.
29Their tents and their flocks will be taken away.
Their tent curtains, equipment, and camels will be carried off.
People will shout to them,
‘Terror is all around you!’”
30The Lord says, “Flee quickly, you who live in Hazor.
Take up refuge in remote places.
For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you.
He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.”
31The Lord says, “Army of Babylon, go and attack
a nation that lives in peace and security.
They have no gates or walls to protect them.
They live all alone.
32Their camels will be taken as plunder.
Their vast herds will be taken as spoil.
I will scatter to the four winds
those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples.
I will bring disaster against them
from every direction,” says the Lord.
33“Hazor will become a permanent wasteland,
a place where only jackals live.
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it.”
(NET Bible)Ps. 34
34:1 By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.
I will praise the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him.
2I will boast in the Lord;
let the oppressed hear and rejoice.
3Magnify the Lord with me.
Let us praise his name together.
4I sought the Lord’s help and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5Look to him and be radiant;
do not let your faces be ashamed.
6This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him from all his troubles.
7The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s loyal followers and delivers them.
8Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him.
9Fear the Lord, you chosen people of his,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11Come children. Listen to me.
I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord.
12Do you want to really live?
Would you love to live a long, happy life?
13Then make sure you don’t speak evil words
or use deceptive speech.
14Turn away from evil and do what is right.
Strive for peace and promote it.
15The Lord pays attention to the godly
and hears their cry for help.
16But the Lord opposes evildoers
and wipes out all memory of them from the earth.
17The godly cry out and the Lord hears;
he saves them from all their troubles.
18The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he delivers those who are discouraged.
19The godly face many dangers,
but the Lord saves them from each one of them.
20He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21Evil people self-destruct;
those who hate the godly are punished.
22The Lord rescues his servants;
all who take shelter in him escape punishment.
(NET Bible)Eph. 2:11–22
2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands— 12that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 15when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, 16and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 17And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
(NET Bible)In 1535 Luther’s Lectures on Galatians, delivered in 1531, were published. In these he said: “This vice lies in us that we admire persons and respect them more than the Word while God desires that we adhere to and have our mind fixed alone upon the very Word. … He does not want us to admire or adore the apostolate in Peter and Paul but Christ who speaks in them and the very Word of God which comes from their mouth.” In speaking of the occurrence at Antioch (Gal. 2:11-14) Luther concedes that even prophets err and fail but only when they speak in their own spirit, not inspired by the Holy Ghost, as Nathan did when out of his own spirit (ex suo spiritu) he told David that he should build a house for the Lord. “This prophecy was immediately corrected by divine revelation.” Here Luther declares that even Gal. 3:16, a passage so o en ridiculed, was written out of genuine apostolic spirit and understanding, and repeats that it is impossible that Scripture should contradict itself, and that a single tittle of Scripture is of greater importance than heaven and earth. Scripture he calls the queen that alone should reign. (34–35)
–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.