Ezra 6:13–22
6:13 Then Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues acted accordingly—with precision, just as Darius the king had given instructions. 14The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo continued prophesying. They built and brought it to completion by the command of the God of Israel and by the command of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16The people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—observed the dedication of this temple of God with joy. 17For the dedication of this temple of God they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and 12 male goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18They appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their divisions over the worship of God at Jerusalem, in accord with the book of Moses. 19 The exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one, and they all were ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues the priests, and for themselves. 21The Israelites who were returning from the exile ate it, along with all those who had joined them in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel. 22They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion of the king of Assyria toward them so that he assisted them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.
(NET Bible)Ps. 111
111:1 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
2The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited by all who desire them.
3His work is majestic and glorious,
and his faithfulness endures forever.
4He does amazing things that will be remembered;
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
5He gives food to his faithful followers;
he always remembers his covenant.
6He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations.
7His acts are characterized by faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable.
8They are forever firm
and should be faithfully and properly carried out.
9He delivered his people;
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.
His name is holy and awesome.
10To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.
He will receive praise forever.
(NET Bible)James 3:1–18
3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly. 2For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well. 3And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies. 4Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs. 5So, too, the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze. 6And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence—and is set on fire by hell.
7For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is subdued and has been subdued by humankind. 8But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters. 11A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it? 12Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a vine produce figs? Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water.
13Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. 14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. 15Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical. 18And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace.
(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.