Is. 60:1–6
60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor of the Lord shines on you!
2For, look, darkness covers the earth
and deep darkness covers the nations,
but the Lord shines on you;
his splendor appears over you.
3Nations come to your light,
kings to your bright light.
4Look all around you!
They all gather and come to you—
your sons come from far away,
and your daughters are escorted by guardians.
5Then you will look and smile,
you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride.
For the riches of distant lands will belong to you,
and the wealth of nations will come to you.
6Camel caravans will cover your roads,
young camels from Midian and Ephah.
All the merchants of Sheba will come,
bringing gold and incense
and singing praises to the Lord.
(NET Bible)Ps. 72
72:1 For Solomon.
O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions.
Grant the king’s son the ability to make fair decisions.
2Then he will judge your people fairly
and your oppressed ones equitably.
3The mountains will bring news of peace to the people,
and the hills will announce justice.
4He will defend the oppressed among the people;
he will deliver the children of the poor
and crush the oppressor.
5People will fear you as long as the sun and moon remain in the sky,
for generation after generation.
6He will descend like rain on the mown grass,
like showers that drench the earth.
7During his days the godly will flourish;
peace will prevail as long as the moon remains in the sky.
8May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
9Before him the coastlands will bow down,
and his enemies will lick the dust.
10The kings of Tarshish and the coastlands will offer gifts;
the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring tribute.
11All kings will bow down to him;
all nations will serve him.
12For he will rescue the needy when they cry out for help,
and the oppressed who have no defender.
13He will take pity on the poor and needy;
the lives of the needy he will save.
14From harm and violence he will defend them;
he will value their lives.
15May he live! May they offer him gold from Sheba.
May they continually pray for him.
May they pronounce blessings on him all day long.
16May there be an abundance of grain in the earth;
on the tops of the mountains may it sway.
May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon.
May its crops be as abundant as the grass of the earth.
17May his fame endure.
May his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky.
May they use his name when they formulate their blessings.
May all nations consider him to be favored by God.
18The Lord God, the God of Israel, deserves praise.
He alone accomplishes amazing things.
19His glorious name deserves praise forevermore.
May his majestic splendor fill the whole earth.
We agree! We agree!
20This collection of the prayers of David son of Jesse ends here.
(NET Bible)Eph. 3:1–12
3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles 2if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly. 4When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ 5(which was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit), 6namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. 7I became a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the exercise of his power. 8To me—less than the least of all the saints—this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 9and to enlighten everyone about God’s secret plan—the mystery that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things. 10The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. 11This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12in whom we have boldness and confident access to God by way of Christ’s faithfulness. (NET Bible)
Matt. 2:1–12
2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem 2saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3When King Herod heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet:
6‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are in no way least among the rulers of Judah,
for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7Then Herod privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.” 9After listening to the king they left, and once again the star they saw when it rose led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star they shouted joyfully. 11As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back by another route to their own country.
(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.