Home > Reading > Daily Reading – October 4, 2020

Ezek. 32

32:1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the Lord’s message came to me: 2“Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:

“‘You were like a lion among the nations,

but you are a monster in the seas;

you thrash about in your streams,

stir up the water with your feet,

and muddy your streams.

3“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘I will throw my net over you in the assembly of many peoples;

and they will haul you up in my dragnet.

4I will leave you on the ground,

I will fling you on the open field,

I will allow all the birds of the sky to settle on you,

and I will permit all the wild animals to gorge themselves on you.

5I will put your flesh on the mountains,

and fill the valleys with your maggot-infested carcass.

6I will drench the land with the flow

of your blood up to the mountains,

and the ravines will be full of your blood.

7When I extinguish you, I will cover the sky;

I will darken its stars.

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon will not shine.

8I will darken all the lights in the sky over you,

and I will darken your land,

declares the Sovereign Lord.

9I will disturb many peoples

when I bring about your destruction among the nations,

among countries you do not know.

10I will shock many peoples with you,

and their kings will shiver with horror because of you.

When I brandish my sword before them,

every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.

11“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘The sword of the king of Babylon will attack you.

12By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall—

all of them are the most terrifying among the nations.

They will devastate the pride of Egypt,

and all its hordes will be destroyed.

13I will destroy all its cattle beside the plentiful waters;

and no human foot will disturb the waters again,

nor will the hooves of cattle disturb them.

14Then I will make their waters calm

and will make their streams flow like olive oil, declares the Sovereign Lord.

15When I turn the land of Egypt into desolation

and the land is destitute of everything that fills it,

when I strike all those who live in it,

then they will know that I am the Lord.’

16This is a lament; they will chant it.

The daughters of the nations will chant it.

They will chant it over Egypt and over all her hordes,

declares the Sovereign Lord.”

17In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the Lord’s message came to me: 18“Son of man, wail over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down; bring her and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the Pit. 19Say to them, ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!’ 20They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; they carry her and all her hordes away. 21The bravest of the warriors will speak to him from the midst of Sheol along with his allies, saying: ‘The uncircumcised have come down; they lie still, killed by the sword.’

22“Assyria is there with all her assembly around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword. 23Their graves are located in the remote slopes of the Pit. Her assembly is around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.

24“Elam is there with all her hordes around her grave; all of them struck down by the sword. They went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, those who spread terror in the land of the living. Now they will bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit. 25Among the dead they have made a bed for her, along with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for their terror had spread in the land of the living. They bear their shame along with those who descend to the Pit; they are placed among the dead.

26“Meshech Tubal is there, along with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ancient times, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, having their swords placed under their heads and their shields on their bones, when the terror of these warriors was in the land of the living.

28“But as for you, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken, and you will lie with those killed by the sword.

29“Edom is there with her kings and all her princes. Despite their might they are laid with those killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and those who descend to the Pit.

30“All the leaders of the north are there, along with all the Sidonians; despite their might they have gone down in shameful terror with the dead. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit.

31“Pharaoh will see them and be consoled over all his hordes who were killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army, declares the Sovereign Lord. 32Indeed, I terrified him in the land of the living, yet he will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

(NET Bible)

Ps. 93

93:1 The Lord reigns.

He is robed in majesty.

The Lord is robed;

he wears strength around his waist.

Indeed, the world is established; it cannot be moved.

2Your throne has been secure from ancient times;

you have always been king.

3The waves roar, O Lord,

the waves roar,

the waves roar and crash.

4Above the sound of the surging water,

and the mighty waves of the sea,

the Lord sits enthroned in majesty.

5The rules you set down are completely reliable.

Holiness aptly adorns your house, O Lord, forever.

(NET Bible)

Heb. 5:11–6:8

5:11 On this topic we have much to say, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing. 12For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. 13For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness because he is an infant. 14But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

6:1 Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, 2teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And this is what we intend to do, if God permits. 4For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt. 7For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. 8But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; its fate is to be burned. (NET Bible)

In the passage cited above, that is taken from the Exposition of the First and Second Chapter of John, 1537 and 1538, there is the statement: “But these are questions that remain questions which I will not solve and that do not give me much concern, only there are people so sly and keen that they raise all kinds of questions for which they want to have answers. If one, however, has a correct understanding of Scripture and possesses the true statement of our faith that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has su ered and died for us, it will not be a serious defect if we are not able to answer them.” And following this: “When discrepancies occur in Holy Scripture (namely concerning such chronological questions as these: how many years Jesus taught openly, how the account of the Temple cleansing in John agrees with Matthew, and similar questions) and we cannot harmonize them, let it pass, it does not endanger the article of the Christian faith.” In these statements Luther does not say that it is a matter of indi erence to him whether they contain errors or not but only that his faith would not be endangered, if, in spite of his best efforts, he would be unable to solve the apparent contradictions or to prove the inconsequence of all skeptical questions. He dismisses the matter if he cannot prove it conclusively, but his inability to do so neither commits him to the opinion that these passages really contain error, nor is his faith in salvation thereby imperiled. (49–50)

–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.

Learn More