Home > Reading > Daily Reading – June 25, 2020

Jer. 23:23–40

23:23 Do you people think that I am some local deity

and not the transcendent God?” the Lord asks.

24“Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks.

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?”

the Lord asks.

25The Lord says, “I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’ 26Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds. 27How long will they go on plotting to make my people forget who I am through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal. 28Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain! I, the Lord, affirm it! 29My message is like a fire that purges dross. It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. I, the Lord, so affirm it! 30So I, the Lord, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me. 31I, the Lord, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who are using their own tongues to declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ 32I, the Lord, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. I, the Lord, affirm it!”

33The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, ‘What burdensome message do you have from the Lord?’ Tell them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you away. I, the Lord, affirm it! 34I will punish any prophet, priest, or other person who says, “The Lord’s message is burdensome.” I will punish both that person and his whole family.’”

35So I, Jeremiah, tell you, “Each of you people should say to his friend or his relative, ‘How did the Lord answer? Or what did the Lord say?’ 36You must no longer say that the Lord’s message is burdensome. For what is ‘burdensome’ really pertains to what a person himself says. You are misrepresenting the words of our God, the living God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 37Each of you should merely ask the prophet, ‘What answer did the Lord give you?’ Or, ‘What did the Lord say?’ 38But just suppose you continue to say, ‘The message of the Lord is burdensome.’ Here is what the Lord says will happen: ‘I sent word to you that you must not say, “The Lord’s message is burdensome.” But you used the words, “The Lord’s message is burdensome,” anyway. 39So I will carry you far off and throw you away. I will send both you and the city I gave to you and to your ancestors out of my sight. 40I will bring on you lasting shame and lasting disgrace that will never be forgotten!’”

(NET Bible)

Ps. 145

145:1 A psalm of praise; by David.

I will extol you, my God, O King.

I will praise your name continually.

2Every day I will praise you.

I will praise your name continually.

3The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise.

No one can fathom his greatness.

4One generation will praise your deeds to another

and tell about your mighty acts.

5I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor

and your amazing deeds.

6They will proclaim the power of your awesome acts.

I will declare your great deeds.

7They will talk about the fame of your great kindness

and sing about your justice.

8The Lord is merciful and compassionate;

he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.

9The Lord is good to all

and has compassion on all he has made.

10All your works will give thanks to you, Lord.

Your loyal followers will praise you.

11They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom;

they will tell about your power,

12so that mankind might acknowledge your mighty acts

and the majestic splendor of your kingdom.

13Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom,

and your dominion endures through all generations.

14 The Lord supports all who fall

and lifts up all who are bent over.

15Everything looks to you in anticipation,

and you provide them with food on a regular basis.

16You open your hand

and fill every living thing with the food it desires.

17The Lord is just in all his actions

and exhibits love in all he does.

18The Lord is near all who cry out to him,

all who cry out to him sincerely.

19He satisfies the desire of his loyal followers;

he hears their cry for help and delivers them.

20The Lord protects all those who love him,

but he destroys all the wicked.

21My mouth will praise the Lord.

Let all who live praise his holy name forever.

(NET Bible)

Acts 13:48–14:7

13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice and praise the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life believed. 49So the word of the Lord was spreading through the entire region. 50But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high social standing and the prominent men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their region. 51So after they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, they went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

14:1 The same thing happened in Iconium when Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a large group of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3So they stayed there for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace, granting miraculous signs and wonders to be performed through their hands. 4But the population of the city was divided; some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. 5When both the Gentiles and the Jews (together with their rulers) made an attempt to mistreat them and stone them, 6Paul and Barnabas learned about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding region. 7There they continued to proclaim the good news.

(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.

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