Jer. 21:1–10
21:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. Zedekiah sent them to Jeremiah to ask, 2“Please ask the Lord to come and help us, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave.” 3Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah 4that the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘The forces at your disposal are now outside the walls fighting against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians who have you under siege. I will gather those forces back inside the city. 5In anger, in fury, and in wrath I myself will fight against you with my mighty power and great strength. 6I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, people and animals alike. They will die from terrible diseases. 7Then I, the Lord, promise that I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.’
8“But tell the people of Jerusalem that the Lord says, ‘I will give you a choice between two courses of action. One will result in life; the other will result in death. 9Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians who are besieging it will live. They will escape with their lives. 10For I, the Lord, say that I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’”
(NET Bible)Ps. 141
141:1 A psalm of David.
O Lord, I cry out to you. Come quickly to me.
Pay attention to me when I cry out to you.
2May you accept my prayer like incense,
my uplifted hands like the evening offering.
3O Lord, place a guard on my mouth.
Protect the opening of my lips.
4Do not let me have evil desires
or participate in sinful activities
with men who behave wickedly.
I will not eat their delicacies.
5May the godly strike me in love and correct me.
May my head not refuse choice oil.
Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds.
6They will be thrown over the side of a cliff by their judges.
They will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.
7As when one plows and breaks up the soil,
so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
8Surely I am looking to you, O Sovereign Lord.
In you I take shelter.
Do not expose me to danger.
9Protect me from the snare they have laid for me
and the traps the evildoers have set.
10Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I escape.
(NET Bible)Acts 12:18–25
12:18 At daybreak there was great consternation among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 19When Herod had searched for him and did not find him, he questioned the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
20Now Herod was having an angry quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they joined together and presented themselves before him. And after convincing Blastus, the king’s personal assistant, to help them, they asked for peace because their country’s food supply was provided by the king’s country. 21On a day determined in advance, Herod put on his royal robes, sat down on the judgment seat, and made a speech to them. 22But the crowd began to shout, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” 23Immediately an angel of the Lord struck Herod down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. 24But the word of God kept on increasing and multiplying.
25So Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem when they had completed their mission, bringing along with them John Mark.
(NET Bible)It is not a matter of the origin of the Old Testament Scripture and its parts but of the value and the significance which it still has for the Christian. That the Old Testament, too, in its totality, in the opinion of Luther, was the Word of God needs no further proof. Yet, let this at least be quoted from his Introduction to the Old Testament: “I beg and faithfully warn every pious Christian not to stumble at the simplicity of the language and the stories that will often meet him there. He should not doubt that, however simple they may seem, there are the very words, works, judgments, and deeds of the high Majesty, power, and wisdom of God; for this is Scripture, and it makes the wisdom of God that He, lays before you in such simple and foolish (Matt. 11:25). Therefore let your own thoughts and feelings go and think of the Scriptures as the loftiest and noblest of holy things, as the richest of mines, which can never be worked out, so that you may find the wisdom of God that He lays before you in such simple and foolish guise, in order that He may quench all pride. Here you will find the swaddling clothes and the manger in which Christ lies, and to which the angel points the shepherds. Simple and little are the swaddling clothes, but dear is the treasure, Christ, that lies in them.” (28–29)
–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.