Joel 2:1–11
2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,
for the day of the Lord is about to come.
Indeed, it is near!
2It will be a day of dreadful darkness,
a day of foreboding storm clouds,
like blackness spread over the mountains.
It is a huge and powerful army—
there has never been anything like it ever before,
and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come!
3Like fire they devour everything in their path;
a flame blazes behind them.
The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them,
but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness—
for nothing escapes them!
4They look like horses;
they charge ahead like war horses.
5They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops,
like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble,
like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle.
6People writhe in fear when they see them.
All their faces turn pale with fright.
7They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
Each one proceeds on his course;
they do not alter their path.
8They do not jostle one another;
each of them marches straight ahead.
They burst through the city defenses
and do not break ranks.
9They rush into the city;
they scale its walls.
They climb up into the houses;
they go in through the windows like a thief.
10The earth quakes before them;
the sky reverberates.
The sun and the moon grow dark;
the stars refuse to shine.
11The voice of the Lord thunders as he leads his army.
Indeed, his warriors are innumerable;
Surely his command is carried out!
Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome
and very terrifying—who can survive it?
(NET Bible)Ps. 81
81:1 For the music director, according to the gittith style; by Asaph.
Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
2Sing a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument.
3Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins.
4For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel;
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
5He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,
when he attacked the land of Egypt.
I heard a voice I did not recognize.
6It said: “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket.
7In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. (Selah)
8I said, ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn you.
O Israel, if only you would obey me!
9There must be no other god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
10I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’
11But my people did not obey me;
Israel did not submit to me.
12I gave them over to their stubborn desires;
they did what seemed right to them.
13If only my people would obey me!
If only Israel would keep my commands!
14Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack their adversaries.”
15(May those who hate the Lord cower in fear before him.
May they be permanently humiliated.)
16“I would feed Israel the best wheat,
and would satisfy your appetite with honey from the rocky cliffs.”
(NET Bible)Rom. 11:25–36
11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
27And this is my covenant with them,
when I take away their sins.”
28In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 29For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, 31so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. 32For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.
33Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways!
34For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?
35Or who has first given to God
that God needs to repay him?
36For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.
(NET Bible)
In his Exposition of the Prophet Zechariah, of 1527, in the explanation of the passage 11:12 ., Luther raises the question, “Why does Matthew (27:9) attribute the text of the thirty pieces of silver to the prophet Jeremiah when it appears here in Zechariah?” He answers: “It is true, this and similar questions do not mean much to me since they are of no particular profit, and Matthew has done enough when he has cited a genuine text even if he does not have the correct name, just as in other places he cites texts but does not give them in the exact words of Scripture; we can pass that by, and it does no harm that he does not use the exact words, for the sense has been preserved, and so here, what does it matter if he does not give the name exactly, because more depends on the words than on the name. And that is the manner of all apostles who do the same thing, citing the statements of Scripture without such meticulous care concerning the text. Wherefore it would be much harder to question their procedure than to question Matthew here about the name of Jeremiah. Let anyone who loves idle questions ask on. He will find more to question than he can answer.” (49)
–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.