Daily Readings

¹ Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.² And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.³ Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.⁴ And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.⁵ So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.⁶ And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.⁷ Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.⁸ And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.⁹ And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.¹⁰ Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.¹¹ And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.¹² And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.¹³ And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.¹⁴ And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.¹⁵ And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.¹⁶ And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.¹⁷ And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.¹⁸ And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.¹⁹ And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.²⁰ And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.²¹ And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.²² And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.²³ And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.²⁴ Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee.²⁵ So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:²⁶ Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well:²⁷ And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.²⁸ Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?²⁹ Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.³⁰ And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.³¹ And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.³² And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.³³ He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.³⁴ And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.³⁵ Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.³⁶ And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.³⁷ Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.³⁸ And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.³⁹ And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.⁴⁰ So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.⁴¹ But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.⁴² And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.⁴³ And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.⁴⁴ So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

¹ Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.² And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.³ For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.⁴ And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.⁵ So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.⁶ And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.⁷ Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.⁸ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.⁹ Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.¹⁰ And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.¹¹ Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.¹² Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,¹³ And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:¹⁴ And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.¹⁵ Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.¹⁷ Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.¹⁸ The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.¹⁹ And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.²⁰ The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.²¹ And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.²² And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.²³ And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.²⁴ And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:²⁵ He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.²⁶ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.²⁷ And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.²⁸ This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:²⁹ In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:³⁰ In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.³¹ And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison.³² And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,³³ And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.³⁴ And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

¹ Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.² Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.³ Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.⁴ Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.⁵ And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.⁶ And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.⁷ But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.⁸ For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;⁹ To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;¹⁰ To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:¹¹ But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.¹² For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.¹³ For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many.¹⁵ If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?¹⁶ And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?¹⁸ But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.¹⁹ And if they were all one member, where were the body?²⁰ But now are they many members, yet but one body.²¹ And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.²² Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:²³ And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.²⁴ For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.²⁵ That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.²⁶ And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.²⁷ Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.²⁸ And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.²⁹ Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?³⁰ Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?³¹ But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

¹ Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.⁴ Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,⁵ Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;⁶ Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;⁷ Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.⁸ Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.⁹ For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.¹⁰ But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.¹¹ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.¹² For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.¹³ And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.