Jer. 50:33–46
50:33 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says,
“The people of Israel are oppressed.
So too are the people of Judah.
All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners.
They refuse to set them free.
34But the one who will rescue them is strong.
His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
He will strongly champion their cause.
As a result he will bring peace and rest to the earth,
but trouble and turmoil to the people who inhabit Babylonia.
35“Destructive forces will come against the Babylonians,” says the Lord.
“They will come against the people who inhabit Babylonia,
against her leaders and her men of wisdom.
36Destructive forces will come against her false prophets;
they will be shown to be fools!
Destructive forces will come against her soldiers;
they will be filled with terror!
37Destructive forces will come against her horses and her chariots.
Destructive forces will come against all the foreign troops within her;
they will be as frightened as women!
Destructive forces will come against her treasures;
they will be taken away as plunder!
38A drought will come upon her land;
her rivers and canals will be dried up.
All this will happen because her land is filled with idols.
Her people act like madmen because of those idols they fear.
39Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there;
ostriches too will dwell in it.
But no people will ever live there again;
no one will dwell there for all time to come.
40I will destroy Babylonia just as I did
Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns.
No one will live there;
no human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord.
41“Look! An army is about to come from the north.
A mighty nation and many kings are stirring into action
in faraway parts of the earth.
42Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride forth on their horses.
Lined up in formation like men going into battle,
they are coming against you, fair Babylon.
43The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear
when he hears news of their coming.
Anguish will grip him,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.
44“A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan
scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it.
So too I will chase the Babylonians off their land;
then I will appoint over it whomever I choose.
For there is no one like me.
There is no one who can call me to account.
There is no ruler that can stand up against me.
45So listen to what I, the Lord, have planned against Babylon,
what I intend to do to the people who inhabit the land of Babylonia.
Their little ones will be dragged off like sheep.
I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.
46The people of the earth will quake when they hear Babylon has been captured.
Her cries of anguish will be heard by the other nations.”
(NET Bible)Ps. 37:23–40
37:23 The Lord grants success to the one
whose behavior he finds commendable.
24Even if he trips, he will not fall headlong,
for the Lord holds his hand.
25I was once young, now I am old.
I have never seen the godly abandoned,
or their children forced to search for food.
26All day long they show compassion and lend to others,
and their children are blessed.
27Turn away from evil. Do what is right.
Then you will enjoy lasting security.
28For the Lord promotes justice,
and never abandons his faithful followers.
They are permanently secure,
but the children of the wicked are wiped out.
29The godly will possess the land
and will dwell in it permanently.
30The godly speak wise words
and promote justice.
31The law of their God controls their thinking;
their feet do not slip.
32The wicked set an ambush for the godly
and try to kill them.
33But the Lord does not surrender the godly,
or allow them to be condemned in a court of law.
34Rely on the Lord. Obey his commands.
Then he will permit you to possess the land;
you will see the demise of the wicked.
35I have seen ruthless, wicked people
growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil.
36But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared.
I looked for them, but they could not be found.
37Take note of the one who has integrity. Observe the upright.
For the one who promotes peace has a future.
38Sinful rebels are totally destroyed;
the wicked have no future.
39But the Lord delivers the godly;
he protects them in times of trouble.
40The Lord helps them and rescues them;
he rescues them from the wicked and delivers them,
for they seek his protection.
(NET Bible)Eph. 4:17–32
4:17 So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 19Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20But you did not learn about Christ like this, 21if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. 22You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 23to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.
25Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor because we are members of one another. 26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. 27Do not give the devil an opportunity. 28The one who steals must steal no longer; instead he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it would give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31You must put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and slanderous talk—indeed all malice. 32Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
(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.