Daily Readings

¹ And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;² And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.³ And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.⁴ But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:⁵ And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.⁶ And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,⁷ And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.⁸ Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.⁹ And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.¹⁰ But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.¹¹ And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.¹² And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:¹³ For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.¹⁴ And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.¹⁵ And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.¹⁷ And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.¹⁸ And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD:¹⁹ Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:²⁰ Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.²¹ And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.²² Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.²³ The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.²⁴ Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;²⁵ And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.²⁶ But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.²⁷ And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:²⁸ And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.²⁹ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.³⁰ And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.³¹ And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:³² Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.³³ And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.³⁴ And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.³⁵ And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.³⁶ Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.³⁷ And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.³⁸ And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

¹ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?² O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.³ But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.⁴ Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.⁵ They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.⁶ But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.⁷ All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,⁸ He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.⁹ But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.¹⁰ I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.¹¹ Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.¹² Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.¹³ They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.¹⁶ For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.¹⁷ I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.¹⁸ They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.¹⁹ But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.²¹ Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.²² I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.²³ Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.²⁴ For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.²⁵ My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.²⁶ The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.²⁷ All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.²⁸ For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.²⁹ All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.³⁰ A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.³¹ They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

¹ At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.² But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.³ But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;⁴ How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?⁵ Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?⁶ But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.⁷ But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.⁸ For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.⁹ And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:¹⁰ And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.¹¹ And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?¹² How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.¹³ Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.¹⁴ Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.¹⁵ But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;¹⁶ And charged them that they should not make him known:¹⁷ That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,¹⁸ Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.¹⁹ He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.²⁰ A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.²¹ And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.²² Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.²³ And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.²⁵ And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:²⁶ And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?²⁷ And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.²⁸ But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.²⁹ Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.³⁰ He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.³¹ Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.³² And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.³³ Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.³⁴ O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.³⁵ A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.³⁶ But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.³⁷ For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.³⁸ Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.³⁹ But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:⁴⁰ For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.⁴¹ The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.⁴² The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.⁴³ When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.⁴⁴ Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.⁴⁵ Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.⁴⁶ While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.⁴⁷ Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.⁴⁸ But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?⁴⁹ And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!⁵⁰ For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.