27th September

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 after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.³ And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers.⁴ Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.⁵ And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.⁶ So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together.⁷ And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their 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 sons fallen in mount Gilboa.⁹ And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people.¹⁰ And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.¹¹ And when all Jabeshgilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,¹² They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.¹³ So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;¹⁴ And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.

¹ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,² Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:³ And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.⁴ And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.⁵ And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,⁶ Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.⁷ Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.⁸ Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.⁹ Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.¹⁰ These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.¹¹ And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.¹² She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.¹³ Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,¹⁴ And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,¹⁵ Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:¹⁶ And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.¹⁷ And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.¹⁸ So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.¹⁹ Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.²⁰ For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.²¹ Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.²² Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;²³ The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.²⁴ And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.²⁵ And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.²⁶ They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.²⁷ Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.²⁸ For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:²⁹ And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.³⁰ I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.³¹ Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.³² Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.³³ Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.³⁴ Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.³⁵ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.³⁶ The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;³⁷ That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.³⁸ Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.³⁹ For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.⁴⁰ And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,⁴¹ And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.⁴² And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.⁴³ Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?⁴⁴ Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.⁴⁵ And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.⁴⁶ For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.⁴⁷ And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.⁴⁸ Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.⁴⁹ And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

¹ And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,² And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?³ And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:⁴ The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?⁵ And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?⁶ But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.⁷ And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.⁸ And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.⁹ Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.¹⁰ And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.¹¹ And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.¹² And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.¹³ Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.¹⁴ But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.¹⁵ So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?¹⁶ He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.¹⁷ And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?¹⁸ Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.¹⁹ And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.²⁰ And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.²¹ And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:²² Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?²³ But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?²⁴ Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's.²⁵ And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.²⁶ And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.²⁷ Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him,²⁸ Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.²⁹ There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.³⁰ And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.³¹ And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.³² Last of all the woman died also.³³ Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.³⁴ And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:³⁵ But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:³⁶ Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.³⁷ Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.³⁸ For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.³⁹ Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.⁴⁰ And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.⁴¹ And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son?⁴² And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,⁴³ Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.⁴⁴ David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?⁴⁵ Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,⁴⁶ Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;⁴⁷ Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.