Daily Readings

¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.² And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul's sons.³ And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.⁴ Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.⁵ And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.⁶ So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.⁷ And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.⁸ And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.⁹ And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.¹⁰ And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.¹¹ And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;¹² All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.¹³ And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹ O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.² I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.³ The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.⁴ Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.⁵ Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.⁶ For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.⁷ As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.⁸ Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.⁹ Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.¹⁰ To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.¹¹ Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.¹² And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.¹³ For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.¹⁴ They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.¹⁵ Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.¹⁶ Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.¹⁷ Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.¹⁸ Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.¹⁹ Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.²⁰ To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.²¹ Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.²² Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.²³ They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.²⁴ We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.²⁵ Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.²⁶ O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.²⁷ I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.²⁸ They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.²⁹ The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.³⁰ Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

¹ And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,² And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.³ And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.⁴ Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.⁵ While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.⁶ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.⁷ And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.⁸ And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.⁹ And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.¹⁰ And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?¹¹ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.¹² But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.¹³ Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.¹⁴ And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,¹⁵ Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.¹⁶ And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.¹⁷ Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.¹⁹ Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?²⁰ And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.²¹ Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.²² And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:²³ And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.²⁴ And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?²⁵ He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?²⁶ Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.²⁷ Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.