1 Chron. 16:37–43
16:37 David left Asaph and his colleagues there before the ark of the Lord’s covenant to serve before the ark regularly and fulfill each day’s requirements, 38including Obed-Edom and sixty-eight colleagues. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun and Hosah were gatekeepers. 39Zadok the priest and his fellow priests served before the Lord’s tabernacle at the worship center in Gibeon, 40regularly offering burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the altar for burnt sacrifice, morning and evening, according to what is prescribed in the law of the Lord which he charged Israel to observe. 41Joining them were Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord. (For his loyal love endures!) 42Heman and Jeduthun were in charge of the music, including the trumpets, cymbals, and the other musical instruments used in praising God. The sons of Jeduthun guarded the entrance.
43Then all the people returned to their homes, and David went to pronounce a blessing on his family.
(NET Bible)Ps. 119:25–32
119:25 ד (Dalet)
I collapse in the dirt.
Revive me with your word.
26I told you about my ways and you answered me.
Teach me your statutes.
27Help me to understand what your precepts mean.
Then I can meditate on your marvelous teachings.
28I collapse from grief.
Sustain me by your word.
29Remove me from the path of deceit.
Graciously give me your law.
30I choose the path of faithfulness;
I am committed to your regulations.
31I hold fast to your rules.
O Lord, do not let me be ashamed.
32I run along the path of your commands,
for you enable me to do so.
(NET Bible)Mark 15:21–47
15:21 The soldiers forced a passerby to carry his cross, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus). 22They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which is translated, “Place of the Skull”). 23They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, throwing dice for them, to decide what each would take. 25It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26The inscription of the charge against him read, “The king of the Jews.” 27And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left. 29Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30save yourself and come down from the cross!” 31In the same way even the chief priests—together with the experts in the law—were mocking him among themselves: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! 32Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him.
33Now when it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34Around three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!” 36Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down!” 37But Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. 38And the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39Now when the centurion, who stood in front of him, saw how he died, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” 40There were also women, watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were there too.
42Now when evening had already come, since it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43Joseph of Arimathea, a highly regarded member of the council, who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He called the centurion and asked him if he had been dead for some time. 45When Pilate was informed by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. 46After Joseph bought a linen cloth and took down the body, he wrapped it in the linen and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone across the entrance of the tomb. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was placed.
(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.