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Proverbs 7 (ESV)

Warning Against the Adulteress

My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;

keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;

bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,

to keep you from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words.

For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,

and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,

passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house

in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.

10  And behold, the woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.

11  She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;

12  now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.

13  She seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,

14  “I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;

15  so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.

16  I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian linen;

17  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.

18  Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.

19  For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;

20  he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”

21  With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.

22  All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast

23  till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24  And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.

25  Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,

26  for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.

27  Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.

Psalm 105 (ESV)

Tell of All His Wondrous Works

105 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!

Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!

Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!

Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,

10  which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

11  saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance.”

12  When they were few in number,
of little account, and sojourners in it,

13  wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,

14  he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their account,

15  saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
do my prophets no harm!”

16  When he summoned a famine on the land
and broke all supply of bread,

17  he had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

18  His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;

19  until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the Lord tested him.

20  The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the peoples set him free;

21  he made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,

22  to bind his princes at his pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.

23  Then Israel came to Egypt;
Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

24  And the Lord made his people very fruitful
and made them stronger than their foes.

25  He turned their hearts to hate his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.

26  He sent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27  They performed his signs among them
and miracles in the land of Ham.

28  He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
they did not rebel against his words.

29  He turned their waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.

30  Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.

31  He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
and gnats throughout their country.

32  He gave them hail for rain,
and fiery lightning bolts through their land.

33  He struck down their vines and fig trees,
and shattered the trees of their country.

34  He spoke, and the locusts came,
young locusts without number,

35  which devoured all the vegetation in their land
and ate up the fruit of their ground.

36  He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their strength.

37  Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,
and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

38  Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.

39  He spread a cloud for a covering,
and fire to give light by night.

40  They asked, and he brought quail,
and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.

41  He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.

42  For he remembered his holy promise,
and Abraham, his servant.

43  So he brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.

44  And he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,

45  that they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!

Hebrews 10:19–31 (ESV)

The Full Assurance of Faith

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Wilhelm Walther truthfully says: “It never entered the mind of Luther to deny all authority in the Church. Rather, by dethroning the mass of false authorities to which men bowed during the Catholic period, he enthroned another authority as the only one duly authenticated. Indeed, only to this end did he militate against the infallibility of the Church Fathers, Popes, Councils, and universities with such force, to make room for the ‘Empress’ who alone is worthy of all sovereignty, the Holy Scripture. Anyone to whom this must rst be proved lacks even elementary knowledge in the eld of the history of the Reformation. (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.

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