Home > Reading > Daily Reading – February 2, 2020

Is. 47:1–15

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,

O virgin daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground, not on a throne,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.

2Pick up millstones and grind flour.

Remove your veil,

strip off your skirt,

expose your legs,

cross the streams.

3Let your naked body be exposed.

Your shame will be on display!

I will get revenge;

I will not have pity on anyone,”

4says our Protector—

the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name,

the Holy One of Israel.

5“Sit silently! Go to a hiding place,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’

6I was angry at my people;

I defiled my special possession

and handed them over to you.

You showed them no mercy;

you even placed a very heavy burden on old people.

7You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’

You did not think about these things;

you did not consider how it would turn out.

8So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly,

who lives securely,

who says to herself,

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’

9Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed.

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies,

despite your many incantations

and your numerous amulets.

10You were complacent in your evil deeds;

you thought, ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’

11Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away.

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it.

12Persist in trusting your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful—

maybe you will scare away disaster.

13You are tired out from listening to so much advice.

Let them take their stand—

the ones who see omens in the sky,

who gaze at the stars,

who make monthly predictions—

let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you!

14Look, they are like straw

that the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy.

15They will disappoint you,

those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth.

Each strays off in his own direction,

leaving no one to rescue you.”

(NET Bible)

Ps. 31

31:1 For the music director, a psalm of David.

In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.

Never let me be humiliated.

Vindicate me by rescuing me.

2Listen to me.

Quickly deliver me.

Be my protector and refuge,

a stronghold where I can be safe.

3For you are my high ridge and my stronghold;

for the sake of your own reputation you lead me and guide me.

4You will free me from the net they hid for me,

for you are my place of refuge.

5Into your hand I entrust my life;

you will rescue me, O Lord, the faithful God.

6I hate those who serve worthless idols,

but I trust in the Lord.

7I will be happy and rejoice in your faithfulness,

because you notice my pain

and you are aware of how distressed I am.

8You do not deliver me over to the power of the enemy;

you enable me to stand in a wide open place.

9Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress!

My eyes grow dim from suffering.

I have lost my strength.

10For my life nears its end in pain;

my years draw to a close as I groan.

My strength fails me because of my sin,

and my bones become brittle.

11Because of all my enemies, people disdain me;

my neighbors are appalled by my suffering—

those who know me are horrified by my condition;

those who see me in the street run away from me.

12I am forgotten, like a dead man no one thinks about;

I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar.

13For I hear what so many are saying,

the terrifying news that comes from every direction.

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

14But I trust in you, O Lord!

I declare, “You are my God!”

15You determine my destiny.

Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.

16Smile on your servant.

Deliver me because of your faithfulness.

17O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,

for I call out to you.

May evil men be humiliated.

May they go wailing to the grave.

18May lying lips be silenced—

lips that speak defiantly against the innocent

with arrogance and contempt.

19How great is your favor,

which you store up for your loyal followers.

In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter in you.

20You hide them with you, where they are safe from the attacks of men;

you conceal them in a shelter, where they are safe from slanderous attacks.

21The Lord deserves praise

for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies.

22I jumped to conclusions and said,

“I am cut off from your presence!”

But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.

23Love the Lord, all you faithful followers of his!

The Lord protects those who have integrity,

but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly.

24Be strong and confident,

all you who wait on the Lord.

(NET Bible)

John 13:1–20

13:1 Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that his time had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end. 2The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Jesus. 3Because Jesus knew that the Father had handed all things over to him, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4he got up from the meal, removed his outer clothes, took a towel and tied it around himself. 5He poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel he had wrapped around himself.

6Then he came to Simon Peter. Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus replied, “You do not understand what I am doing now, but you will understand after these things.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, wash not only my feet but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus replied, “The one who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” 11(For Jesus knew the one who was going to betray him. For this reason he said, “Not every one of you is clean.”)

12So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? 13You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am. 14If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have given you an example—you should do just as I have done for you. 16I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

18“What I am saying does not refer to all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who eats my bread has turned against me.’ 19I am telling you this now, before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I am he. 20I tell you the solemn truth, whoever accepts the one I send accepts me, and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

(NET Bible)

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.

In his synodical sermon, which he wrote, not in 1512 as the Weimar Edition assumes, but in 1516 for the Provost of Leitzkau, he energetically declares that the work of pastors is the study and the preaching of Scripture. Here we read: “Therefore in this honorable meeting you may resolve many things and order everything well, but if you do not insist that it is commanded for priests, as the teachers of the people, to do away with all unauthentic legendary matter and to concentrate only on the holy Gospel and the holy exponents of the holy Gospel, to proclaim with a sacred reverence the Word of truth to the people and omit at last all speculations of men, or add them only in moderation, setting forth their difference, and thus faithfully labor for the birth from God—I say, if you will not devote yourselves to this with increasing zeal, then I say to you in all frankness everything else will be as nothing. For that is the chief thing that matters, that is the essence of a genuine reformation, that is the very soul of all piety. (15)

–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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