1 Chron. 15:16–29
15:16 David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint some of their relatives as musicians; they were to play various instruments, including stringed instruments and cymbals, and to sing loudly and joyfully. 17So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; one of his relatives, Asaph son of Berechiah; one of the descendants of Merari, Ethan son of Kushaiah; 18along with some of their relatives who were second in rank, including Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.
19The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals; 20Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play the harps according to the alamoth style; 21Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to play the lyres according to the sheminith style, as led by the director; 22Kenaniah, the leader of the Levites, was in charge of transport, for he was well-informed on this matter; 23Berechiah and Elkanah were guardians of the ark; 24Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; Obed-Edom and Jehiel were also guardians of the ark.
25So David, the leaders of Israel, and the commanders of units of a thousand went to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the house of Obed-Edom with celebration. 26When God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27David was wrapped in a linen robe, as were all the Levites carrying the ark, the musicians, and Kenaniah the supervisor of transport and the musicians; David also wore a linen ephod. 28All Israel brought up the ark of the Lord’s covenant; they were shouting, blowing trumpets, sounding cymbals, and playing stringed instruments. 29As the ark of the Lord’s covenant entered the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked out the window. When she saw King David jumping and celebrating, she despised him.
(NET Bible)Ps. 119:9–16
119:9 ב (Bet)
How can a young person maintain a pure life?
By guarding it according to your instructions.
10With all my heart I seek you.
Do not allow me to stray from your commands.
11In my heart I store up your words,
so I might not sin against you.
12You deserve praise, O Lord.
Teach me your statutes.
13With my lips I proclaim
all the regulations you have revealed.
14I rejoice in the lifestyle prescribed by your rules
as if they were riches of all kinds.
15I will meditate on your precepts
and focus on your behavior.
16I find delight in your statutes;
I do not forget your instructions.
(NET Bible)Mark 14:43–72
14:43 Right away, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him came a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and experts in the law and elders. 44(Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him and lead him away under guard.”) 45When Judas arrived, he went up to Jesus immediately and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46Then they took hold of him and arrested him. 47One of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his ear. 48Jesus said to them, “Have you come with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw? 49Day after day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, yet you did not arrest me. But this has happened so that the scriptures would be fulfilled.” 50Then all the disciples left him and fled. 51A young man was following him, wearing only a linen cloth. They tried to arrest him, 52but he ran off naked, leaving his linen cloth behind.
53Then they led Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests and elders and experts in the law came together. 54And Peter had followed him from a distance, up to the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the guards and warming himself by the fire. 55The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find anything. 56Many gave false testimony against him, but their testimony did not agree. 57Some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands and in three days build another not made with hands.’” 59Yet even on this point their testimony did not agree. 60Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?” 61But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62“I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? 64You have heard the blasphemy! What is your verdict?” They all condemned him as deserving death. 65Then some began to spit on him, and to blindfold him, and to strike him with their fists, saying, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him and beat him.
66Now while Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s slave girls came by. 67When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked directly at him and said, “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus.” 68But he denied it: “I don’t even understand what you’re talking about!” Then he went out to the gateway, and a rooster crowed. 69When the slave girl saw him, she began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70But he denied it again. A short time later the bystanders again said to Peter, “You must be one of them because you are also a Galilean.” 71Then he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” 72Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
(NET Bible)
No matter how emphatically Luther emphasized the inerrancy and the consistency of the original text of Holy Scripture as the work of the Holy Ghost, he is also, on the other hand, convinced of the personal cooperation of the original authors. They are not, in his opinion, mechanical instruments and dead machines, mere amanuenses who set down on paper only what was dictated to them by the Spirit of God. He regarded them rather as independent instruments of the Spirit who spoke their faith, their heart, their thoughts; who put their entire will and feeling into the words to such an extent that from what Luther reads in each case he draws conclusions concerning the character and the temperament of the authors. So [according to Luther] the Prophet Joel reveals himself in his writing as a “gracious and gentle man, who does not scold and censure like the other prophets but implores and bewails.” Amos, on the other hand, is “violent, scolding almost all the way through his book, so that he is well called, Amos, that is a burden or what is burdensome and vexatious”; and he explains this as being due to his calling and from the fact that he was sent as a “stranger” from the Kingdom of Judah to the Kingdom of Israel, for, he continues, “because he is a shepherd and not one of the order of the prophets, as he says in the seventh chapter, moreover, he goes from the branch of Judah, from Tekoa, into the Kingdom of Israel and preaches there as a stranger.” Of Jeremiah, however, Luther says that he is always afraid that he censures too much, for which reason he compares him with Philip Melanchthon. In Paul he observes the deepest emotion because of his writings and can say of his words, “these words are violent above mea- sure, from which it is easy to see that he was much more violently moved than he was able to express in words.” Yes, he adds, “So it has come about that St. Paul under the influence of his intense thought could not control his own word so well, and his speech has become somewhat disordered and peculiar.” (60)
–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.