Daily Readings

¹ And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.² For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.³ And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?⁴ Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.⁵ And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer:⁶ Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi; and they came to Danjaan, and about to Zidon,⁷ And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba.⁸ So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.⁹ And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.¹⁰ And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.¹¹ For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,¹² Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.¹³ So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.¹⁴ And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.¹⁵ So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.¹⁶ And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.¹⁷ And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.¹⁸ And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.¹⁹ And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.²⁰ And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.²¹ And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.²² And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.²³ All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.²⁴ And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.²⁵ And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,² Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,³ And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;⁴ And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;⁵ I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.⁶ And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.⁷ And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.⁸ And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.⁹ Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:¹⁰ For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.¹¹ But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.¹² I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.¹³ Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?¹⁴ Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.¹⁵ For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.¹⁶ Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.¹⁷ Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?¹⁸ But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.¹⁹ For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city.²⁰ Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;²¹ Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;²² They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.

¹ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;² As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.³ The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.⁴ John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.⁵ And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.⁶ And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;⁷ And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.⁸ I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.⁹ And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.¹⁰ And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:¹¹ And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.¹² And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness.¹³ And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.¹⁴ Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,¹⁵ And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.¹⁶ Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.¹⁷ And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.¹⁸ And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.¹⁹ And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.²⁰ And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.²¹ And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.²² And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.²³ And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,²⁴ Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.²⁶ And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.²⁷ And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.²⁸ And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.²⁹ And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.³⁰ But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.³¹ And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.³² And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.³³ And all the city was gathered together at the door.³⁴ And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.³⁵ And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.³⁶ And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.³⁷ And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.³⁸ And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.³⁹ And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.⁴⁰ And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.⁴¹ And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.⁴² And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.⁴³ And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;⁴⁴ And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.⁴⁵ But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.