2 Chron. 26:16–23
26:16 But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He disobeyed the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar. 17Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the Lord followed him in. 18They confronted King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord. That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed and the Lord God will not honor you!” 19Uzziah, who had an incense censer in his hand, became angry. While he was ranting and raving at the priests, a skin disease appeared on his forehead right there in front of the priests in the Lord’s temple near the incense altar. 20When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him. 21King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, afflicted by a skin disease and banned from the Lord’s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.
22The rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from start to finish, were recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23Uzziah passed away and was buried near his ancestors in a cemetery belonging to the kings. (This was because he had a skin disease.) His son Jotham replaced him as king.
(NET Bible)Ps. 98
98:1 A psalm.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he performs amazing deeds.
His right hand and his mighty arm
accomplish deliverance.
2The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver;
in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.
3He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel.
All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us.
4Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth.
Break out in a joyful shout and sing!
5Sing to the Lord accompanied by a harp,
accompanied by a harp and the sound of music.
6With trumpets and the blaring of the ram’s horn,
shout out praises before the king, the Lord.
7Let the sea and everything in it shout,
along with the world and those who live in it.
8Let the rivers clap their hands!
Let the mountains sing in unison
9before the Lord.
For he comes to judge the earth.
He judges the world fairly,
and the nations in a just manner.
(NET Bible)Luke 12:35–47
12:35 “Get dressed for service and keep your lamps burning; 36be like people waiting for their master to come back from the wedding celebration, so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him. 37Blessed are those slaves whom their master finds alert when he returns! I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, have them take their place at the table, and will come and wait on them! 38Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, blessed are those slaves! 39But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
41Then Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” 42The Lord replied, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his household servants, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? 43Blessed is that slave whom his master finds at work when he returns. 44I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45But if that slave should say to himself, ‘My master is delayed in returning,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat, drink, and get drunk, 46then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the unfaithful. 47That servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked will receive a severe beating. (NET Bible)
It was only the culmination point of this whole development when on April 18 [Luther] gave his famous answer in Worms: “Unless I am convinced by testimony from Scripture or evident reason (convictus testimoniis Scripturae aut ratione evidente)—for I believe neither the Pope nor the Councils alone, since it is established that they have often erred and contradicted themselves—I am conquered by the writings (i.e., passages from Scripture) cited by me, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God; recant I will and can nothing, since it is neither safe nor honest to do ought against conscience.” This once forever established the Sola Scriptura. (19)
–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.