Is. 30:18–33
30:18 For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy;
he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you.
Indeed, the Lord is a just God;
all who wait for him in faith will be blessed.
19For people will live in Zion;
in Jerusalem you will weep no more.
When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;
when he hears it, he will respond to you.
20The Lord will give you distress to eat
and suffering to drink;
but your teachers will no longer be hidden;
your eyes will see them.
21You will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,
“This is the correct way, walk in it,”
whether you are heading to the right or the left.
22You will desecrate your silver-plated idols
and your gold-plated images.
You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,
saying to them, “Get out!”
23He will water the seed you plant in the ground,
and the ground will produce crops in abundance.
At that time your cattle will graze in wide pastures.
24The oxen and donkeys used in plowing
will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork.
25On every high mountain
and every high hill
there will be streams flowing with water,
at the time of great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.
26The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare,
and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,
like the light of seven days,
when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones
and heals their severe wound.
27Look, the name of the Lord comes from a distant place
in raging anger and awesome splendor.
He speaks angrily,
and his word is like destructive fire.
28His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river
that reaches one’s neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff;
he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction.
29You will sing
as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.
You will be happy like one who plays a flute
as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel.
30The Lord will give a mighty shout
and intervene in power,
with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire,
with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.
31Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria;
he will beat them with a club.
32Every blow from his punishing cudgel
with which the Lord will beat them
will be accompanied by music from the tambourine and harp,
and he will attack them with his weapons.
33For the burial place is already prepared;
it has been made deep and wide for the king.
The firewood is piled high on it.
The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,
will ignite it.
(NET Bible)Ps. 9
9:1 For the music director, according to the alumoth-labben style; a psalm of David.
I will thank the Lord with all my heart!
I will tell about all your amazing deeds.
2I will be happy and rejoice in you.
I will sing praises to you, O Most High.
3When my enemies turn back,
they trip and are defeated before you.
4For you defended my just cause;
from your throne you pronounced a just decision.
5You terrified the nations with your battle cry.
You destroyed the wicked;
you permanently wiped out all memory of them.
6The enemy’s cities have been reduced to permanent ruins.
You destroyed their cities;
all memory of the enemies has perished.
7But the Lord rules forever;
he reigns in a just manner.
8He judges the world fairly;
he makes just legal decisions for the nations.
9Consequently the Lord provides safety for the oppressed;
he provides safety in times of trouble.
10Your loyal followers trust in you,
for you, Lord, do not abandon those who seek your help.
11Sing praises to the Lord, who rules in Zion.
Tell the nations what he has done.
12For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed;
he did not overlook their cry for help
13when they prayed:
“Have mercy on me, Lord!
See how I am oppressed by those who hate me,
O one who can snatch me away from the gates of death!
14Then I will tell about all your praiseworthy acts;
in the gates of Daughter Zion I will rejoice because of your deliverance.”
15The nations fell into the pit they had made;
their feet were caught in the net they had hidden.
16The Lord revealed himself;
he accomplished justice.
The wicked were ensnared by their own actions. (Higgaion. Selah)
17The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol;
this is the destiny of all the nations that ignore God,
18for the needy are not permanently ignored,
the hopes of the oppressed are not forever dashed.
19Rise up, Lord!
Don’t let men be defiant.
May the nations be judged in your presence.
20Terrify them, Lord.
Let the nations know they are mere mortals. (Selah)
(NET Bible)John 5:18–29
5:18 For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.
19So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed. 21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. 22Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, 23so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24“I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. 25I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming—and is now here—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, 27and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man.
28“Do not be amazed at this because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29and will come out—the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation. (NET Bible)
We know that in 1513, when [Luther] began his lectures on the Psalms, he still operated with the fourfold sense of Scripture, the sensus literalis, allegoricus, tropologicus, and anagogicus, but that already in the course of his lectures he combined three of them into one and occasionally designated the sensus literalis as the sensus primarius scripturae behind which the sensus tropologicus must retreat. In his lectures on Romans, 1515-1516, and on Galatians, 1516-1517, this view becomes increasingly evident, and after 1519 his exposition is entirely controlled by the principle: Scripture has but one meaning, even though in his practical explanations of the Scriptures he still oftentimes pays tribute to the allegorical sense. He now declares in his writing against Emser, “Scripture shall not have a double meaning but shall retain the one that accords with the meaning by the words,” and again, “The Holy Ghost is the most simple author and speaker in heaven and earth, therefore His words cannot have more than one, the most simple meaning.” In his Christmas Postil of 1522 he even writes, “If we concede that Scripture has more than one sense, it loses its fighting force.” (10)
–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.