Joel 3:17–21
3:17 “You will be convinced that I, the Lord, am your God,
dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy—
conquering armies will no longer pass through it.
18On that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk.
All the dry stream beds of Judah will flow with water.
A spring will flow out from the temple of the Lord,
watering the Valley of Acacia Trees.
19Egypt will be desolate,
and Edom will be a desolate wilderness
because of the violence they did to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20But Judah will reside securely forever,
and Jerusalem will be secure from one generation to the next.
21I will avenge their blood that I had not previously acquitted.”
It is the Lord who dwells in Zion!
(NET Bible)Ps. 86
86:1 A prayer of David.
Listen, O Lord. Answer me.
For I am oppressed and needy.
2Protect me, for I am loyal.
You are my God; deliver your servant who trusts in you.
3Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I cry out to you all day long.
4Make your servant glad,
for to you, O Lord, I pray.
5Certainly, O Lord, you are kind and forgiving,
and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.
6O Lord, hear my prayer.
Pay attention to my plea for mercy.
7In my time of trouble I cry out to you,
for you will answer me.
8None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord.
Your exploits are incomparable.
9All the nations, whom you created,
will come and worship you, O Lord.
They will honor your name.
10For you are great and do amazing things.
You alone are God.
11O Lord, teach me how you want me to live.
Then I will obey your commands.
Make me wholeheartedly committed to you.
12O Lord, my God, I will give you thanks with my whole heart.
I will honor your name continually.
13For you will extend your great loyal love to me
and will deliver my life from the depths of Sheol.
14O God, arrogant men attack me;
a gang of ruthless men, who do not respect you, seek my life.
15But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness.
16Turn toward me and have mercy on me.
Give your servant your strength.
Deliver this son of your female servant.
17Show me evidence of your favor.
Then those who hate me will see it and be ashamed,
for you, O Lord, will help me and comfort me.
(NET Bible)Rom. 15:8–21
15:8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.” 10And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” 12And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
14But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15But I have written more boldly to you on some points so as to remind you, because of the grace given to me by God 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I serve the gospel of God like a priest, so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17So I boast in Christ Jesus about the things that pertain to God. 18For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in order to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person’s foundation, 21but as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
(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.