1 Chron. 21:1–17
21:1 An adversary opposed Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had. 2David told Joab and the leaders of the army, “Go, count the number of warriors from Beer Sheba to Dan. Then bring back a report to me so I may know how many we have.” 3Joab replied, “May the Lord make his army a hundred times larger! My master, O king, do not all of them serve my master? Why does my master want to do this? Why bring judgment on Israel?”
4But the king’s edict stood, despite Joab’s objections. So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel before returning to Jerusalem. 5Joab reported to David the number of warriors. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 sword-wielding soldiers; Judah alone had 470,000 sword-wielding soldiers. 6Now Joab did not number Levi and Benjamin, for the king’s edict disgusted him. 7God was also offended by it, so he attacked Israel.
8David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 9The Lord told Gad, David’s prophet, 10“Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am offering you three forms of judgment from which to choose. Pick one of them.”’” 11Gad went to David and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Pick one of these: 12three years of famine, or three months being chased by your enemies and struck down by their swords, or three days being struck down by the Lord, during which a plague will invade the land and the angel of the Lord will destroy throughout Israel’s territory.’ Now, decide what I should tell the one who sent me.” 13David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer to be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is very great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” 14So the Lord sent a plague through Israel, and 70,000 Israelite men died.
15God sent an angel to ravage Jerusalem. As he was doing so, the Lord watched and relented from his judgment. He told the angel who was destroying, “That’s enough! Stop now!”
Now the angel of the Lord was standing near the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. 17David said to God, “Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep—what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!”
(NET Bible)Ps. 119:81–88
119:81 כ (Kaf)
I desperately long for your deliverance.
I find hope in your word.
82My eyes grow tired as I wait for your promise to be fulfilled.
I say, “When will you comfort me?”
83For I am like a wineskin dried up in smoke.
I do not forget your statutes.
84How long must your servant endure this?
When will you judge those who pursue me?
85The arrogant dig pits to trap me,
which violates your law.
86All your commands are reliable.
I am pursued without reason. Help me!
87They have almost destroyed me here on the earth,
but I do not reject your precepts.
88Revive me with your loyal love
that I might keep the rules you have revealed.
(NET Bible)1 Cor. 5
5:1 It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, the kind of immorality that is not permitted even among the Gentiles, so that someone is cohabiting with his father’s wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you? 3For even though I am absent physically, I am present in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did this, just as though I were present. 4When you gather together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast affects the whole batch of dough? 7Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough—you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8So then, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
9I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. 10In no way did I mean the immoral people of this world, or the greedy and swindlers and idolaters, since you would then have to go out of the world. 11But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who calls himself a Christian who is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12For what do I have to do with judging those outside? Are you not to judge those inside? 13But God will judge those outside. Remove the evil person from among you.
(NET Bible)
It was self-evident to Luther that the evangelists gave consideration to the plan according to which they would relate the history of Jesus and, with that in mind, selected and arranged their materials accordingly, abbreviating here and expanding there. In the Church Postil Luther says in the Sermon for the Twenty- fifth Sunday after Trinity (St. Matt. 24:15-28): “In this chapter is described the conclu-sion and end of both kingdoms, that of Judah and that of the whole world. But the two evangelists, Matthew and Mark, mingle the two and do not keep the order that has been preserved in Luke, for they are concerned only about telling and repeating the words without troubling themselves as to the order in which the words were spoken.” “So understand that Matthew here weaves together and combines the end of the Jewish nation and of the world, mixes them into one dish. But if you wish to understand it you must separate it and apply the parts to their respective ends.” (60–61)
–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.