Home > Reading > Daily Reading – June 4, 2020

Jer. 9:12–26

9:12 I said,

“Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened?

Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it?

Why does the land lie in ruins?

Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”

13The Lord answered, “This has happened because these people have rejected my laws that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws. 14Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to the gods called Baal, as their fathers taught them to do. 15So then, listen to what I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, say, ‘I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. 16I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them.’”

17The Lord of Heaven’s Armies told me to say to this people:

“Take note of what I say.

Call for the women who mourn for the dead!

Summon those who are the most skilled at it!”

18I said, “Indeed, let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us.

Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyes

and our eyelids overflow with water.

19For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion,

‘We are utterly ruined! We are completely disgraced!

For we have left our land,

for our houses have been torn down!’”

20I said,

“So now, you wailing women, listen to the Lord’s message.

Open your ears to the message from his mouth.

Teach your daughters this mournful song,

and let every woman teach her neighbor this lament.

21‘Death has climbed in through our windows.

It has entered into our fortified houses.

It has taken away our children who play in the streets.

It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’

22Tell your daughters and neighbors, ‘The Lord says:

“The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywhere

like manure scattered on a field.

They will lie scattered on the ground

like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered.”’”

23 The Lord says,

“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.

Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful.

Rich people should not boast that they are rich.

24If people want to boast, they should boast about this:

They should boast that they understand and know me.

They should boast that they know and understand

that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth

and that I desire people to do these things,”

says the Lord.

25The Lord says, “Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. 26That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight. Moreover, none of the people of Israel are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.”

(NET Bible)

Ps. 124

124:1 A song of ascents; by David.

“If the Lord had not been on our side”—

let Israel say this.—

2if the Lord had not been on our side,

when men attacked us,

3they would have swallowed us alive,

when their anger raged against us.

4The water would have overpowered us;

the current would have overwhelmed us.

5The raging water

would have overwhelmed us.

6The Lord deserves praise,

for he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.

7We escaped with our lives, like a bird from a hunter’s snare.

The snare broke, and we escaped.

8Our deliverer is the Lord,

the Creator of heaven and earth.

(NET Bible)

Acts 5:17–42

5:17 Now the high priest rose up, and all those with him (that is, the religious party of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. 18They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail. 19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said, 20“Go and stand in the temple courts and proclaim to the people all the words of this life.” 21When they heard this, they entered the temple courts at daybreak and began teaching.

Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin—that is, the whole high council of the Israelites—and sent to the jail to have the apostles brought before them. 22But the officers who came for them did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23“We found the jail locked securely and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24Now when the commander of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were greatly puzzled concerning it, wondering what this could be. 25But someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courts and teaching the people!” 26Then the commander of the temple guard went with the officers and brought the apostles without the use of force (for they were afraid of being stoned by the people).

27When they had brought them, they stood them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, 28saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name. Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood on us!” 29But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people. 30The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32And we are witnesses of these events, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

33Now when they heard this, they became furious and wanted to execute them. 34But a Pharisee whose name was Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the council and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. 35Then he said to the council, “Men of Israel, pay close attention to what you are about to do to these men. 36For sometime ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about 400 men joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it. 37After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census and incited people to follow him in revolt. He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered. 38So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, it will come to nothing, 39but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found fighting against God.” He convinced them, 40and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. 41So they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. 42And every day both in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus was the Christ.

(NET Bible)

At the end of November the Reformer published his writing, On the Abuse of the Mass. At the beginning of this we read: “ Therefore let the unreasonable sophists, the ignorant bishops, monks, and parsons, the Pope with all his Gomorrahs know that we were not baptized in the name of Augustine, Bernard, Gregory, Peter or Paul, nor yet in the name of those from Paris but only in the name of Jesus Christ. Him only, and Him not otherwise than crucified, and no other do we acknowledge as our Master. Paul does not desire that we should believe him or an angel, unless Christ lives and speaks in him. … The saints were subject to error in their writings and to sin in their lives; Scripture cannot err.” Again, “It is not the Word of God because the Church says so, but because God’s Word said so, therefore is the Church. The Church does not make the Word but is made by the Word.” (22)

–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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