Home > Reading > Daily Reading – September 30, 2019

Amos 2:6–16

2:6 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions—

make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment.

They sold the innocent for silver,

the needy for a pair of sandals.

7They trample on the dirt-covered heads of the poor;

they push the destitute away.

A man and his father go to the same girl;

in this way they show disrespect for my moral purity.

8They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;

they do so right beside every altar!

They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied;

they do so right in the temple of their God!

9For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites.

They were as tall as cedars

and as strong as oaks,

but I destroyed the fruit on their branches

and their roots in the ground.

10I brought you up from the land of Egypt;

I led you through the wilderness for 40 years

so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.

11I made some of your sons prophets

and some of your young men Nazirites.

Is this not true, you Israelites?”

The Lord is speaking.

12“But you made the Nazirites drink wine;

you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’

13Look! I will press you down,

like a cart loaded down with grain presses down.

14Fast runners will find no place to hide;

strong men will have no strength left;

warriors will not be able to save their lives.

15Archers will not hold their ground;

fast runners will not save their lives,

nor will those who ride horses.

16Bravehearted warriors will run away naked in that day.”

The Lord is speaking.

(NET Bible)

Ps. 89

89:1 A well-written song by Ethan the Ezrahite.

I will sing continually about the Lord’s faithful deeds;

to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.

2For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;

in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”

3The Lord said,

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:

4‘I will give you an eternal dynasty

and establish your throne throughout future generations.’” (Selah)

5O Lord, the heavens praise your amazing deeds,

as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly.

6For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?

Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings,

7a God who is honored in the great angelic assembly,

and more awesome than all who surround him?

8O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!

Who is strong like you, O Lord?

Your faithfulness surrounds you.

9You rule over the proud sea.

When its waves surge, you calm them.

10You crushed the Proud One and killed it;

with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.

11The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.

You made the world and all it contains.

12You created the north and the south.

Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.

13Your arm is powerful,

your hand strong,

your right hand victorious.

14Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne.

Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule.

15How blessed are the people who worship you!

O Lord, they experience your favor.

16They rejoice in your name all day long,

and are vindicated by your justice.

17For you give them splendor and strength.

By your favor we are victorious.

18For our shield belongs to the Lord,

our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19Then you spoke through a vision to your faithful followers and said:

“I have placed a young hero over a warrior;

I have raised up a young man from the people.

20I have discovered David, my servant.

With my holy oil I have anointed him as king.

21My hand will support him,

and my arm will strengthen him.

22No enemy will be able to exact tribute from him;

a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him.

23I will crush his enemies before him;

I will strike down those who hate him.

24He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love,

and by my name he will win victories.

25I will place his hand over the sea,

his right hand over the rivers.

26He will call out to me,

‘You are my father, my God, and the protector who delivers me.’

27I will appoint him to be my firstborn son,

the most exalted of the earth’s kings.

28I will always extend my loyal love to him,

and my covenant with him is secure.

29I will give him an eternal dynasty

and make his throne as enduring as the skies above.

30If his sons reject my law

and disobey my regulations,

31if they break my rules

and do not keep my commandments,

32I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club,

their sin by inflicting them with bruises.

33But I will not remove my loyal love from him

nor be unfaithful to my promise.

34I will not break my covenant

or go back on what I promised.

35Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness,

I will never deceive David.

36His dynasty will last forever.

His throne will endure before me, like the sun;

37it will remain stable, like the moon.

His throne will endure like the skies.” (Selah)

38But you have spurned and rejected him;

you are angry with your chosen king.

39You have repudiated your covenant with your servant;

you have thrown his crown to the ground.

40You have broken down all his walls;

you have made his strongholds a heap of ruins.

41All who pass by have robbed him;

he has become an object of disdain to his neighbors.

42You have allowed his adversaries to be victorious

and all his enemies to rejoice.

43You turn back his sword from the adversary

and have not sustained him in battle.

44You have brought to an end his splendor

and have knocked his throne to the ground.

45You have cut short his youth

and have covered him with shame. (Selah)

46How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever?

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

47Take note of my brief lifespan.

Why do you make all people so mortal?

48No man can live on without experiencing death

or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. (Selah)

49Where are your earlier faithful deeds, O Lord,

the ones performed in accordance with your reliable oath to David?

50Take note, O Lord, of the way your servants are taunted

and of how I must bear so many insults from people.

51Your enemies, O Lord, hurl insults;

they insult your chosen king as they dog his footsteps.

52 The Lord deserves praise forevermore!

We agree! We agree!

(NET Bible)

Rom. 16:17–27

16:17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them! 18For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of the naive. 19Your obedience is known to all and thus I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. 20The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

21Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my compatriots. 22I, Tertius, who am writing this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus the city treasurer and our brother Quartus greet you.

25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that had been kept secret for long ages, 26but now is disclosed, and through the prophetic scriptures has been made known to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever! Amen.

(NET Bible)

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.

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.

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