Is. 49:1–7
49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands!
Pay attention, you people who live far away!
The Lord summoned me from birth;
he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.
2He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
he hid me in the hollow of his hand;
he made me like a sharpened arrow,
he hid me in his quiver.
3He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.”
4But I thought, “I have worked in vain;
I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.”
But the Lord will vindicate me;
my God will reward me.
5So now the Lord says,
the one who formed me from birth to be his servant—
he did this to restore Jacob to himself,
so that Israel might be gathered to him;
and I will be honored in the Lord’s sight,
for my God is my source of strength—
6he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,
to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the remnant of Israel?
I will make you a light to the nations,
so you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
7This is what the Lord,
the Protector of Israel, their Holy One, says
to the one who is despised and rejected by nations,
a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise in respect,
princes will bow down,
because of the faithful Lord,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
(NET Bible)Ps. 34
34:1 By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.
I will praise the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him.
2I will boast in the Lord;
let the oppressed hear and rejoice.
3Magnify the Lord with me.
Let us praise his name together.
4I sought the Lord’s help and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5Look to him and be radiant;
do not let your faces be ashamed.
6This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him from all his troubles.
7The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s loyal followers and delivers them.
8Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him.
9Fear the Lord, you chosen people of his,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11Come children. Listen to me.
I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord.
12Do you want to really live?
Would you love to live a long, happy life?
13Then make sure you don’t speak evil words
or use deceptive speech.
14Turn away from evil and do what is right.
Strive for peace and promote it.
15The Lord pays attention to the godly
and hears their cry for help.
16But the Lord opposes evildoers
and wipes out all memory of them from the earth.
17The godly cry out and the Lord hears;
he saves them from all their troubles.
18The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he delivers those who are discouraged.
19The godly face many dangers,
but the Lord saves them from each one of them.
20He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21Evil people self-destruct;
those who hate the godly are punished.
22The Lord rescues his servants;
all who take shelter in him escape punishment.
(NET Bible)John 14:15–31
14:15 “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. 16Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept because it does not see him or know him. But you know him because he resides with you and will be in you.
18“I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you. 19In a little while the world will not see me any longer, but you will see me; because I live, you will live too. 20You will know at that time that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you. 21The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.”
22“Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. 24The person who does not love me does not obey my words. And the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.
25“I have spoken these things while staying with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.
27“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage. 28You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father because the Father is greater than I am. 29I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. 30I will not speak with you much longer, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me, 31but I am doing just what the Father commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up, let us go from here.
(NET Bible)
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.