1 Chron. 5:1–22
5:1 The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn—
(Now he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph, Israel’s son. So Reuben is not listed as firstborn in the genealogical records. 2Though Judah was the strongest among his brothers and a leader descended from him, the right of the firstborn belonged to Joseph.)
3The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
4The descendants of Joel: his son Shemaiah, his son Gog, his son Shimei, 5his son Micah, his son Reaiah, his son Baal, 6and his son Beerah, whom King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria carried into exile. Beerah was the tribal leader of Reuben.
7His brothers by their clans, as listed in their genealogical records:
The leader Jeiel, Zechariah, 8and Bela son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel.
They lived in Aroer as far as Nebo and Baal Meon. 9In the east they settled as far as the entrance to the wilderness that stretches to the Euphrates River, for their cattle had increased in numbers in the land of Gilead. 10During the time of Saul they attacked the Hagrites and defeated them. They took over their territory in the entire eastern region of Gilead.
11The descendants of Gad lived near them in the land of Bashan, as far as Salecah.
12They included Joel the leader, Shapham the second-in-command, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13Their relatives, listed according to their families, included Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber—seven in all.
14These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz. 15Ahi son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was the leader of the family. 16They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and its surrounding settlements, and in the pasturelands of Sharon to their very borders. 17All of them were listed in the genealogical records in the time of King Jotham of Judah and in the time of King Jeroboam of Israel.
18The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 men in their combined armies, warriors who carried shields and swords, were equipped with bows, and were trained for war. 19They attacked the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20They received divine help in fighting them, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them. They cried out to God during the battle; he responded to their prayers because they trusted in him. 21They seized the Hagrites’ animals, including 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They also took captive 100,000 people. 22Because God fought for them, they killed many of the enemy. They dispossessed the Hagrites and lived in their land until the exile.
(NET Bible)Ps. 106:24–48
106:24 They rejected the fruitful land;
they did not believe his promise.
25They grumbled in their tents;
they did not obey the Lord.
26So he made a solemn vow
that he would make them die in the wilderness,
27make their descendants die among the nations,
and scatter them among foreign lands.
28They worshiped Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
29They made the Lord angry by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
30Phinehas took a stand and intervened,
and the plague subsided.
31This was credited to Phinehas as a righteous act
for all generations to come.
32They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered because of them,
33for they aroused his temper,
and he spoke rashly.
34They did not destroy the nations,
as the Lord had commanded them to do.
35They mixed in with the nations
and learned their ways.
36They worshiped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
38They shed innocent blood—
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land was polluted by bloodshed.
39They were defiled by their deeds
and unfaithful in their actions.
40So the Lord was angry with his people
and despised the people who belonged to him.
41He handed them over to the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42Their enemies oppressed them;
they were subject to their authority.
43Many times he delivered them,
but they had a rebellious attitude
and degraded themselves by their sin.
44Yet he took notice of their distress,
when he heard their cry for help.
45He remembered his covenant with them
and relented because of his great loyal love.
46He caused all their conquerors
to have pity on them.
47Deliver us, O Lord, our God.
Gather us from among the nations.
Then we will give thanks to your holy name,
and boast about your praiseworthy deeds.
48The Lord God of Israel deserves praise,
in the future and forevermore.
Let all the people say, “We agree! Praise the Lord!”
(NET Bible)Mark 9:2–13
9:2 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and led them alone up a high mountain privately. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became radiantly white, more so than any launderer in the world could bleach them. 4Then Elijah appeared before them along with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5So Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6(For they were afraid, and he did not know what to say.) 7Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my one dear Son. Listen to him!” 8Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more except Jesus.
9As they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10They kept this statement to themselves, discussing what this rising from the dead meant.
11Then they asked him, “Why do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?” 12He said to them, “Elijah does indeed come first, and restores all things. And why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be despised? 13But I tell you that Elijah has certainly come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him.”
(NET Bible)
That Luther was not ready to admit that there were errors even in the numerical statements of the Bible we see in his exposition of Genesis 11:27, 28: “ is passage is among the most obscure statements of the Old Testament that has caused us many questions, which a diligent reader will encounter here and there in the older and more recent writers.— There is added another fault, that vain spirits hold it very praiseworthy if they can pass unrestricted judgments concerning the difficult and dark statements of Scripture and then can obstinately maintain their opinions. is is a disease of our nature against which an exegete of Holy Scripture should carefully guard himself.” Then he discusses the question as to what, in his opinion, makes these passages so difficult: “The second question is still more difficult, though neither Lyra nor the other teachers have paid attention to it. That in connection with Abraham sixty years are lost for us. For the reckoning the text brings with itself is easy. Terah was seventy years when he begot Abraham, now Abraham, when he was seventy five years old, left Haran, where Terah had died. If you add these together you will have 145 years. But when the account reckons together the years of Terah, it shows clearly that when he died he had lived 205 years. The question is, therefore, as to how we can account for these years. It would be unfitting to follow the example of audacious people who, when they arrive at such difficulties, immediately dare to correct books written by others. For my part I do not know how I should correctly solve the questions though I have carefully reckoned together the years of the world. So with a humble and proper confession of ignorance (for it is the Holy Ghost who alone knows and understands all things) I conclude that God, because of a certain plan of His own, caused seventy years to be lost out of Abraham’s life so that no one would venture from the exact computation of the years of the world to presume to predict something certain concerning the end of the world.” This hypothesis (because Luther does not express his opinion) may appear even absurd to us moderns, but it will not seem so absurd if we recall that at that time it was customary to place the age of the world at six thousand years, but Luther risks this hypothetical reckoning rather than to admit an error in the Biblical figure. He does not even consider the possibility of such an error. (52)
–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.