Daily Readings

¹ And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?² Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.³ And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.⁴ David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed.⁵ And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him.⁶ Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.⁷ So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.⁸ Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.⁹ And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless?¹⁰ David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.¹¹ The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD's anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.¹² So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.¹³ Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space being between them:¹⁴ And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?¹⁵ And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.¹⁶ This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the LORD liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the LORD's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster.¹⁷ And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.¹⁸ And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?¹⁹ Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.²⁰ Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.²¹ Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.²² And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it.²³ The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD's anointed.²⁴ And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.²⁵ Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

¹ And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.² And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.³ And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.⁴ And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.⁵ And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?⁶ Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day.⁷ And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.⁸ And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.⁹ And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.¹⁰ And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.¹¹ And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.¹² And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

¹ They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.² Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.³ Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.⁴ Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?⁵ Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.⁶ The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.⁷ And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.⁸ And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.⁹ And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.¹⁰ And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.¹¹ And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.¹² Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.¹³ Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.¹⁴ Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:¹⁵ And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.¹⁶ And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.¹⁷ At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.¹⁸ In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.¹⁹ But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.²⁰ Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.²¹ A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.²² Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.²³ Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.²⁴ For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.²⁵ We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,² And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.³ For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.⁴ For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.⁵ And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.⁶ But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.⁷ Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.⁸ And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.⁹ And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.¹⁰ And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.¹¹ And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.¹² And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.¹³ When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.¹⁴ And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.¹⁵ And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.¹⁶ But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.¹⁷ And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.¹⁸ He said, Bring them hither to me.¹⁹ And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.²⁰ And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.²¹ And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.²² And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.²³ And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.²⁴ But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.²⁶ And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.²⁷ But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.²⁸ And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.²⁹ And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.³⁰ But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?³² And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.³³ Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.³⁴ And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.³⁵ And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;³⁶ And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.