Jer. 43
43:1 Jeremiah finished telling all the people all these things the Lord their God had sent him to tell them. 2Then Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and other arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie! The Lord our God did not send you to tell us, ‘You must not go to Egypt and settle there.’ 3But Baruch son of Neriah is stirring you up against us. He wants to hand us over to the Babylonians so that they will kill us or carry us off into exile in Babylon.” 4So Johanan son of Kareah, all the army officers, and all the rest of the people did not obey the Lord’s command to stay in the land of Judah. 5Instead Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led off all the Judean remnant who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. 6They also led off all the men, women, children, and royal princesses that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had left with Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan; this included the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah. 7They went on to Egypt because they refused to obey the Lord, and came to Tahpanhes.
8At Tahpanhes the Lord’s message came to Jeremiah: 9“Take some large stones and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching. 10Then tell them, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says, “I will bring my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones that I have buried. He will pitch his royal tent over them. 11He will come and attack Egypt. Those who are destined to die of disease will die of disease. Those who are destined to be carried off into exile will be carried off into exile. Those who are destined to die in war will die in war. 12He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their gods or carry them off as captives. He will pick Egypt clean like a shepherd picks the lice from his clothing. He will leave there unharmed. 13He will demolish the sacred pillars in the temple of the sun in Egypt and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.”’”
(NET Bible)Ps. 24
24:1 A psalm of David.
The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,
the world and all who live in it.
2For he set its foundation upon the seas,
and established it upon the ocean currents.
3Who is allowed to ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?
4The one whose deeds are blameless
and whose motives are pure,
who does not lie,
or make promises with no intention of keeping them.
5Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord,
and vindicated by the God who delivers them.
6Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,
Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. (Selah)
7Look up, you gates.
Rise up, you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king will enter.
8Who is this majestic king?
The Lord who is strong and mighty.
The Lord who is mighty in battle.
9Look up, you gates.
Rise up, you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king will enter.
10Who is this majestic king?
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
He is the majestic king. (Selah)
(NET Bible)Acts 26:1–11
26:1 So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand and began his defense:
2“Regarding all the things I have been accused of by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, 3because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversial issues of the Jews. Therefore I ask you to listen to me patiently. 4Now all the Jews know the way I lived from my youth, spending my life from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. 5They know because they have known me from time past, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. 6And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, 7a promise that our 12 tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God night and day. Concerning this hope the Jews are accusing me, Your Majesty! 8Why do you people think it is unbelievable that God raises the dead? 9Of course, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. 10And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death. 11I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged at them, I went to persecute them even in foreign cities.
(NET Bible)In [Luther’s] Sermon on the Christian Armor, of 1532, we read: “When the devil has succeeded in bringing matters so far that we surrender one article to him, he is victorious, and it is just as bad as though all of them and Christ himself were already lost. Afterward he can unsettle and withdraw others because they are all intertwined and bound together like a golden chain, so that if one link be broken, the whole chain is broken, and it pulls apart. And there is no article that cannot be overthrown if it once comes to pass that reason intrudes and tries to speculate and learns to turn and twist the Scripture so that it does agree with its conclusions. at penetrates like a sweet poison.” (34)
–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.