1 Chron. 6:61–81
6:61 The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten cities in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh.
62The clans of Gershom’s descendants received thirteen cities within the territory of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh (in Bashan).
63The clans of Merari’s descendants were allotted twelve cities within the territory of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
64So the Israelites gave to the Levites these cities and their pasturelands. 65They allotted these previously named cities from the territory of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.
66The clans of Kohath’s descendants also received cities as their territory within the tribe of Ephraim. 67They were allotted as cities of refuge Shechem and its pasturelands (in the hill country of Ephraim), Gezer and its pasturelands, 68Jokmeam and its pasturelands, Beth Horon and its pasturelands, 69Aijalon and its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon and its pasturelands.
70Within the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh, the rest of Kohath’s descendants received Aner and its pasturelands and Bileam and its pasturelands.
71The following belonged to Gershom’s descendants:
Within the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands and Ashtaroth and its pasturelands.
72Within the territory of the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands, 73Ramoth and its pasturelands, and Anem and its pasturelands.
74Within the territory of the tribe of Asher: Mashal and its pasturelands, Abdon and its pasturelands, 75Hukok and its pasturelands, and Rehob and its pasturelands.
76Within the territory of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee and its pasturelands, Hammon and its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim and its pasturelands.
77The following belonged to the rest of Merari’s descendants:
Within the territory of the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono and its pasturelands and Tabor and its pasturelands.
78Within the territory of the tribe of Reuben across the Jordan River east of Jericho: Bezer in the wilderness and its pasturelands, Jahzah and its pasturelands, 79Kedemoth and its pasturelands, and Mephaath and its pasturelands.
80Within the territory of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead and its pasturelands, Mahanaim and its pasturelands, 81Heshbon and its pasturelands, and Jazer and its pasturelands.
(NET Bible)Ps. 108
108:1 A song, a psalm of David.
I am determined, O God.
I will sing and praise you with my whole heart.
2Awake, O stringed instrument and harp.
I will wake up at dawn.
3I will give you thanks before the nations, O Lord.
I will sing praises to you before foreigners.
4For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
5Rise up above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.
6Deliver by your power and answer me,
so that the ones you love may be safe.
7God has spoken in his sanctuary:
“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem;
the Valley of Sukkoth I will measure off.
8Gilead belongs to me,
as does Manasseh.
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah my royal scepter.
9Moab is my washbasin.
I will make Edom serve me.
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”
10Who will lead me into the fortified city?
Who will bring me to Edom?
11Have you not rejected us, O God?
O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.
12Give us help against the enemy,
for any help men might offer is futile.
13By God’s power we will conquer;
he will trample down our enemies.
(NET Bible)Mark 9:30–41
9:30 They went out from there and passed through Galilee. But Jesus did not want anyone to know, 31for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32But they did not understand this statement and were afraid to ask him.
33Then they came to Capernaum. After Jesus was inside the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
38John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.” 39But Jesus said, “Do not stop him because no one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say anything bad about me. 40For whoever is not against us is for us. 41For I tell you the truth, whoever gives you a cup of water because you bear Christ’s name will never lose his reward.
(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.