Is. 22:1–14
22:1 This is an oracle about the Valley of Vision:
What is the reason
that all of you go up to the rooftops?
2The noisy city is full of raucous sounds;
the town is filled with revelry.
Your slain were not cut down by the sword;
they did not die in battle.
3 All your leaders ran away together—
they fled to a distant place;
all your refugees were captured together—
they were captured without a single arrow being shot.
4So I say:
“Don’t look at me!
I am weeping bitterly.
Don’t try to console me
concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.”
5For the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies
has planned a day of panic, defeat, and confusion.
In the Valley of Vision people shout
and cry out to the hill.
6The Elamites picked up the quiver
and came with chariots and horsemen;
the men of Kir prepared the shield.
7Your very best valleys were full of chariots;
horsemen confidently took their positions at the gate.
8They removed the defenses of Judah.
At that time you looked
for the weapons in the House of the Forest.
9You saw the many breaks
in the walls of the City of David;
you stored up water in the lower pool.
10You counted the houses in Jerusalem
and demolished houses so you could have material to reinforce the wall.
11You made a reservoir between the two walls
for the water of the old pool—
but you did not trust in the one who made it;
you did not depend on the one who formed it long ago.
12At that time the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies called for weeping and mourning,
for shaved heads and sackcloth.
13But look, there is outright celebration!
You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,
eat meat and drink wine.
Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
14The Lord of Heaven’s Armies told me this: “Certainly this sin will not be forgiven as long as you live,” says the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
(NET Bible)Ps. 146
146:1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.
4Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.
5How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God.
6The one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,
7vindicates the oppressed,
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.
The Lord loves the godly.
9The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,
but he opposes the wicked.
10The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.
Praise the Lord!
(NET Bible)2 Cor. 11:16–33
11:16 I say again, let no one think that I am a fool. But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17What I am saying with this boastful confidence I do not say the way the Lord would. Instead it is, as it were, foolishness. 18Since many are boasting according to human standards, I too will boast. 19For since you are so wise, you put up with fools gladly. 20For you put up with it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly toward you, if someone strikes you in the face. 21(To my disgrace I must say that we were too weak for that!) But whatever anyone else dares to boast about (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing. 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking like I am out of my mind!) I am even more so: with much greater labors, with far more imprisonments, with more severe beatings, facing death many times. 24Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. 25Three times I was beaten with a rod. Once I received a stoning. Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea. 26I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers, 27in hard work and toil, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing. 28Apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxious concern for all the churches. 29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with indignation? 30If I must boast, I will boast about the things that show my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. 32In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to arrest me, 33but I was let down in a rope-basket through a window in the city wall, and escaped his hands.
(NET Bible)
Alternative:
[Luther writes:] “Paul takes them all together, himself, an angel from heaven, teachers upon earth, and masters of all kinds, and subjects them to the holy Scripture. Scripture must reign as queen (haec regina debet dominari), her all must obey and be subject to. Not teachers, judges, or arbiters over her, but they must be simple witnesses, pupils and confessors of it, whether they may be the Pope or Luther or Augustine or Paul or an angel from heaven” … —“I let you cry in your hostility that Scripture contradicts itself, ascribing righteousness now to faith and then to works. It is impossible that Scripture contradict itself; it only seems so to foolish, coarse, and hardened hypocrites” … — “We abandon the talk of the Jews and stick to St. Paul’s understanding which, not without cause, emphasizes the little word ‘seed’ and thereby indicates that Holy Scripture in Gen. 12:3 and 22:18 speaks of a single seed not of many, and says plainly that Christ is such seed. Paul does so out of a genuine apostolic spirit and understanding. We Christians do not care if such interpretation does not please the Jews. Paul’s interpretation weighs more with us than all glosses of the rabbis” … — “One letter, even a single tittle of Scripture means more to us than heaven and earth. Therefore we cannot permit even the most minute change.” (82–83)
–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.