Home > Reading > Daily Reading – August 29, 2019

2 Kings 23:21–35

23:21 The king ordered all the people, “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God, as prescribed in this scroll of the covenant.” 22He issued this edict because a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges who led Israel; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah. 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, such a Passover of the Lord was observed in Jerusalem.

24Josiah also got rid of the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple. 25No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses.

26Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. 27The Lord announced, “I will also spurn Judah, just as I spurned Israel. I will reject this city that I chose—both Jerusalem and the temple, about which I said, ‘I will live there.’”

28The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign and all his accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 29During Josiah’s reign Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt marched toward the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to fight him, but Necho killed him at Megiddo when he saw him. 30His servants transported his dead body from Megiddo in a chariot and brought it to Jerusalem, where they buried him in his tomb. The people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz, poured olive oil on his head, and made him king in his father’s place.

31Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 32He did evil in the sight of the Lord as his ancestors had done. 33Pharaoh Necho imprisoned him in Riblah in the land of Hamath and prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem. He imposed on the land a special tax of 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34Pharaoh Necho made Josiah’s son Eliakim king in Josiah’s place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. 35Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh the required amount of silver and gold, but to meet Pharaoh’s demands Jehoiakim had to tax the land. He collected an assessed amount from each man among the people of the land in order to pay Pharaoh Necho.

(NET Bible)

Ps. 58

58:1 For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style; a prayer of David.

Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions?

Do you judge people fairly?

2No! You plan how to do what is unjust;

you deal out violence in the earth.

3The wicked turn aside from birth;

liars go astray as soon as they are born.

4Their venom is like that of a snake,

like a deaf serpent that does not hear,

5that does not respond to the magicians,

or to a skilled snake charmer.

6O God, break the teeth in their mouths!

Smash the jawbones of the lions, O Lord.

7Let them disappear like water that flows away.

Let them wither like grass.

8Let them be like a snail that melts away as it moves along.

Let them be like stillborn babies that never see the sun.

9Before the kindling is even placed under your pots,

he will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.

10The godly will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;

they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

11Then observers will say,

“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded.

Yes indeed, there is a God who judges in the earth.”

(NET Bible)

Matt. 26:57–75

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house the experts in the law and the elders had gathered. 58But Peter was following him from a distance, all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. After going in, he sat with the guards to see the outcome. 59The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60But they did not find anything, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward 61and declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” 62So the high priest stood up and said to him, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?” 63But Jesus was silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now you have heard the blasphemy! 66What is your verdict?” They answered, “He is guilty and deserves death.” 67Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. And some slapped him, 68saying, “Prophesy for us, you Christ! Who hit you?”

69Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A slave girl came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70But he denied it in front of them all: “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” 71When he went out to the gateway, another slave girl saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.” 72He denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man!” 73After a little while, those standing there came up to Peter and said, “You really are one of them too—even your accent gives you away!” 74At that he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment a rooster crowed. 75Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

(NET Bible)

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

Luther was not unaware of the difficulties that arise when parallel passages in the Gospels are compared with each other. So in the Lenten Postil, of 1525, he discusses the order of time in the three temptations of our Lord. He makes this statement: “The order in which these temptations came to Christ cannot be determined with certainty, for the evangelists do not agree. What Matthew places in the middle, Luke places at the end, and what he places in the middle, Matthew places at the end, as though he  placed little importance on the order. If we want to preach about it or discuss it, the order of Luke would be the best, for it makes a fine sequence that the devil first attacks through need and misfortune and, when this does not bring results, follows with fortune and honor. Finally, when this is all in vain, he strikes out with all force with errors, lies, and other spiritual deceits. But because they do not occur thus in our daily experience, but, as it happens, a Christian is tempted now with the last, now with the first, Matthew did not pay much attention to the order, as would be fitting for a preacher. And perhaps Christ was so tempted during the forty days that the devil did not observe any particular order but came today with the one temptation, tomorrow with the other, after ten days again with the first and so on as it happened to take place.” (45)

–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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