Jer. 20
20:1 Now Pashhur son of Immer heard Jeremiah prophesy these things. He was the priest who was chief of security in the Lord’s temple. 2When he heard Jeremiah’s prophecy, he had the prophet flogged. Then he put him in the stocks that were at the Upper Gate of Benjamin in the Lord’s temple. 3But the next day Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. When he did, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not ‘Pashhur’ but ‘Terror is Everywhere.’ 4For the Lord says, ‘I will make both you and your friends terrified of what will happen to you. You will see all of them die by the swords of their enemies. I will hand all the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry some of them away into exile in Babylon, and he will kill others of them with the sword. 5I will hand over all the wealth of this city to their enemies. I will hand over to them all the fruits of the labor of the people of this city and all their prized possessions, as well as all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will seize it all as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6You, Pashhur, and all your household will go into exile in Babylon. You will die there, and you will be buried there. The same thing will happen to all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’”
7Lord, you coerced me into being a prophet,
and I allowed you to do it.
You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me.
Now I have become a constant laughingstock.
Everyone ridicules me.
8For whenever I prophesy, I must cry out,
“Violence and destruction are coming!”
This message from the Lord has made me
an object of continual insults and derision.
9Sometimes I think, “I will make no mention of his message.
I will not speak as his messenger anymore.”
But then his message becomes like a fire
locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul.
I grow weary of trying to hold it in;
I cannot contain it.
10I hear many whispering words of intrigue against me.
Those who would cause me terror are everywhere!
They are saying, “Come on, let’s publicly denounce him!”
All my so-called friends are just watching for
something that would lead to my downfall.
They say, “Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up,
so we can prevail over him and get our revenge on him.”
11But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior.
Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.
They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.
Their disgrace will never be forgotten.
12O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, you test and prove the righteous.
You see into people’s hearts and minds.
Pay them back for what they have done
because I trust you to vindicate my cause.
13Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers.
14Cursed be the day I was born!
May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.
15Cursed be the man
who made my father very glad
when he brought him the news
that a baby boy had been born to him!
16May that man be like the cities
that the Lord destroyed without showing any mercy.
May he hear a cry of distress in the morning
and a battle cry at noon.
17For he did not kill me before I came from the womb,
making my pregnant mother’s womb my grave forever.
18Why did I ever come forth from my mother’s womb?
All I experience is trouble and grief,
and I spend my days in shame.
(NET Bible)Ps. 140
140:1 For the music director, a psalm of David.
O Lord, rescue me from wicked men.
Protect me from violent men,
2who plan ways to harm me.
All day long they stir up conflict.
3Their tongues wound like a serpent;
a viper’s venom is behind their lips. (Selah)
4O Lord, shelter me from the power of the wicked.
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over.
5Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men spread a net by the path.
They set traps for me. (Selah)
6I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy.
7O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,
you shield my head in the day of battle.
8O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way.
Do not allow their plan to succeed when they attack. (Selah)
9As for the heads of those who surround me—
may the harm done by their lips overwhelm them.
10May he rain down fiery coals upon them.
May he throw them into the fire.
From bottomless pits they will not escape.
11A slanderer will not endure on the earth;
calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down.
12I know that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor.
13Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;
the morally upright will live in your presence.
(NET Bible)Acts 12:1–17
12:1 About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them. 2He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. 3When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) 4When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him. 6On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” Peter did so. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” 9Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10After they had passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, when at once the angel left him. 11When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen.”
12When Peter realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying. 13When he knocked at the door of the outer gate, a slave girl named Rhoda answered. 14When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she did not open the gate, but ran back in and told them that Peter was standing at the gate. 15But they said to her, “You’ve lost your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was Peter, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were greatly astonished. 17He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and then related how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place.
(NET Bible)Luther did not first come to realize in 1522 that everything in Scripture depends upon that which teaches Christ. He expressed this view already in his first exposition of the Psalms, 1513-1514. Already there we read, “I see nothing in Scripture but Christ crucified” (Ego non intelligo usquam in Scriptura nisi Christum cruci xum); and in a fragment of a sermon delivered on November 11, 1515, Luther says: “He who would read the Bible must simply take heed that he does not err, for the Scripture may permit itself to be stretched and led, but let no one lead it according to his affects but let him lead it to the source, i.e., the cross of Christ. en he will surely strike the center;” and in his Exposition of the Penitential Psalms, 1517, he says in conclusion: “This I confess for myself, whenever I found less in the Scripture than Christ I was not satisfied; whenever I found more than Christ, I never became poorer myself, so that even that seems true to me, that God, the Holy Spirit, does and will know no more than Jesus Christ, as he says of Him, He will glorify me.” And according to Luther also in the Old Testament writings Christ can be found. (28)
–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.