18th March

¹ Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.² Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.³ If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;⁴ Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.⁵ And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.⁶ And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.⁷ And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.⁸ And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.⁹ For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.¹⁰ And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.¹¹ And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.¹² And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.¹³ I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.¹⁴ But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;¹⁵ And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:¹⁶ I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.¹⁷ And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.¹⁸ And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.¹⁹ And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:²⁰ And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.²¹ And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.²² I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.²³ And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;²⁴ Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.²⁵ And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.²⁶ And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.²⁷ And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;²⁸ Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.²⁹ And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.³⁰ And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.³¹ And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.³² And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.³³ And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.³⁴ Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.³⁵ As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.³⁶ And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.³⁷ And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.³⁸ And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.³⁹ And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.⁴⁰ If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;⁴¹ And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:⁴² Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.⁴³ The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.⁴⁴ And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.⁴⁵ But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.⁴⁶ These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

¹ By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.² We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.³ For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.⁴ How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.⁶ If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.⁷ Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.⁸ O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.⁹ Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

¹ I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.² I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.³ In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.⁴ All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.⁵ Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.⁶ Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.⁸ The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

¹ O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.² Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.³ Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.⁴ For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.⁵ Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.⁷ Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;¹⁰ Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.¹¹ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.¹² Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.¹³ For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.¹⁵ My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.¹⁶ Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.¹⁷ How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!¹⁸ If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.¹⁹ Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.²⁰ For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.²¹ Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?²² I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:²⁴ And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

¹ Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.² And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.³ And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.⁴ And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart.⁵ And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.⁶ And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.⁷ Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead;⁸ And of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again.⁹ And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.¹⁰ And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.¹¹ And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.¹² And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.¹³ But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.¹⁴ For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.¹⁵ And they did so, and made them all sit down.¹⁶ Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.¹⁷ And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.¹⁸ And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?¹⁹ They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again.²⁰ He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.²¹ And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing;²² Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.²³ And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.²⁴ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.²⁵ For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?²⁶ For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.²⁷ But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.²⁸ And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.²⁹ And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.³⁰ And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:³¹ Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.³² But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.³³ And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.³⁴ While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.³⁵ And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.³⁶ And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.³⁷ And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him.³⁸ And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.³⁹ And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him.⁴⁰ And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not.⁴¹ And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.⁴² And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.⁴³ And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,⁴⁴ Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.⁴⁵ But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.⁴⁶ Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.⁴⁷ And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,⁴⁸ And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.⁴⁹ And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.⁵⁰ And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.⁵¹ And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,⁵² And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.⁵³ And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?⁵⁵ But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.⁵⁶ For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.⁵⁷ And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.⁵⁸ And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.⁵⁹ And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.⁶⁰ Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.⁶¹ And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.⁶² And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.