Ezek. 26
26:1 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the Lord’s message came to me: 2“Son of man, because Tyre has said about Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich, now that she has been destroyed,’ 3therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, O Tyre! I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. 5She will be a place where fishing nets are spread, surrounded by the sea. For I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations, 6and her daughters who are in the field will be slaughtered by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take note that I am about to bring King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people. 8He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will build a siege wall against you, erect a siege ramp against you, and raise a great shield against you. 9He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons. 10He will cover you with the dust kicked up by his many horses. Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates like those who invade through a city’s broken walls. 11With his horses’ hooves he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will tumble down to the ground. 12They will steal your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw into the water. 13I will silence the noise of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more. 14I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where fishing nets are spread. You will never be built again, for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15“This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Oh, how the coastlands will shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan at the massive slaughter in your midst! 16All the princes of the sea will vacate their thrones. They will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes; they will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground; they will tremble continually and be shocked at what has happened to you. 17They will sing this lament over you:
“‘How you have perished—you have vanished from the seas,
O renowned city, once mighty in the sea,
she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror!
18Now the coastlands will tremble on the day of your fall;
the coastlands by the sea will be terrified by your passing.’
19“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I make you desolate like the uninhabited cities, when I bring up the deep over you and the surging waters overwhelm you, 20then I will bring you down to bygone people, to be with those who descend to the Pit. I will make you live in the lower parts of the earth among the primeval ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will not be inhabited or stand in the land of the living. 21I will bring terrors on you, and you will be no more! Though you are sought after, you will never be found again, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
(NET Bible)Ps. 87
87:1 Written by the Korahites; a psalm, a song.
The Lord’s city is in the holy hills.
2The Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
3People say wonderful things about you,
O city of God. (Selah)
4I mention Rahab and Babylon to my followers.
Here are Philistia and Tyre, along with Ethiopia.
It is said of them, “This one was born there.”
5But it is said of Zion’s residents,
“Each one of these was born in her,
and the Most High makes her secure.”
6The Lord writes in the census book of the nations,
“This one was born there.” (Selah)
7As for the singers, as well as the pipers—
all of them sing within your walls.
(NET Bible)Heb. 2:1–9
2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
5For he did not put the world to come, about which we are speaking, under the control of angels. 6Instead someone testified somewhere:
“What is man that you think of him or the son of man that you care for him?
7You made him lower than the angels for a little while.
You crowned him with glory and honor.
8You put all things under his control.”
For when he put all things under his control, he left nothing outside of his control. At present we do not yet see all things under his control, 9but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone. (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.