Lam. 3:1–24
3:1 א (Alef)
I am the man who has experienced affliction
from the rod of the Lord’s wrath.
2He drove me into captivity and made me walk
in darkness and not light.
3He repeatedly attacks me;
he turns his hand against me all day long.
4ב (Bet)
He has made my mortal skin waste away;
he has broken my bones.
5He has besieged and surrounded me
with bitter hardship.
6He has made me reside in deepest darkness
like those who died long ago.
7ג (Gimel)
He has walled me in so that I cannot get out;
he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains.
8Also, when I cry out desperately for help,
he has shut out my prayer.
9He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones;
he has made every path impassable.
10ד (Dalet)
To me he is like a bear lying in ambush,
like a hidden lion stalking its prey.
11He has obstructed my paths and torn me to pieces;
he has made me desolate.
12He drew his bow and made me
the target for his arrow.
13ה (He)
He shot his arrows
into my heart.
14I have become the laughingstock of all people,
their mocking song all day long.
15He has given me my fill of bitter herbs
and made me drunk with bitterness.
16ו (Vav)
He ground my teeth in gravel;
he trampled me in the dust.
17I am deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is.
18So I said, “My endurance has expired;
I have lost all hope of deliverance from the Lord.”
19ז (Zayin)
Remember my impoverished and homeless condition,
which is a bitter poison.
20I continually think about this,
and I am depressed.
21But this I call to mind;
therefore I have hope:
22ח (Khet)
The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases;
his compassions never end.
23They are fresh every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!
24“My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself,
so I will put my hope in him.
(NET Bible)Ps. 48
48:1 A song, a psalm by the Korahites.
The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise
in the city of our God, his holy hill.
2It is lofty and pleasing to look at,
a source of joy to the whole earth.
Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon;
it is the city of the great king.
3God is in its fortresses;
he reveals himself as its defender.
4For look, the kings assemble;
they advance together.
5As soon as they see, they are shocked;
they are terrified, they quickly retreat.
6Look at them shake uncontrollably,
like a woman writhing in childbirth.
7With an east wind
you shatter the large ships.
8We heard about God’s mighty deeds; now we have seen them,
in the city of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
in the city of our God.
God makes it permanently secure. (Selah)
9Within your temple
we reflect on your loyal love, O God.
10The praise you receive as far away as the ends of the earth
is worthy of your reputation, O God.
You execute justice.
11Mount Zion rejoices;
the towns of Judah are happy,
because of your acts of judgment.
12Walk around Zion. Encircle it.
Count its towers.
13Consider its defenses.
Walk through its fortresses,
so you can tell the next generation about it.
14For God, our God, is our defender forever.
He guides us.
(NET Bible)Col. 1:1–14
1:1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2to the saints, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you from God our Father!
3We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints. 5Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. 7You learned the gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave—a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf— 8who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects—bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
(NET Bible)Here (II Samuel 23:2, ‘The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue’) it becomes too marvelous and soars too high for me. God grant that I may at least partially attain to it, for he here begins to speak of the Holy Triune essence of the divine Godhead. First he mentions the Holy Ghost; to Him he ascribes all that the prophets foretell. It is these and similar statements to which St. Peter refers in the II Epistle 1:21, ‘For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of men, etc … ’Therefore we sing in the Creed, concerning the Holy Ghost, ‘Who spake by the Prophets.’ So we refer all of Scripture to the Holy Ghost.” In the same way he refers to Dan. 7:13, 14. “So it is the Spirit who speaks through Daniel, for such secret thing no one could know if the Holy Ghost had not revealed it through the prophets as we have frequently said before, that Holy Scripture has been spoken by the Holy Ghost.” (36–37)
–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.