Daily Readings

¹ And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.² And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.³ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.⁴ And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.⁵ And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.⁶ And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.⁷ Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.⁸ And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.⁹ And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?¹⁰ And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.¹¹ Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.¹² And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.¹³ And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.¹⁴ And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.¹⁵ And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.¹⁶ Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?¹⁷ And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:¹⁸ Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day.¹⁹ Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.²⁰ Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.²¹ And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.²² Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.²³ But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.²⁴ And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof:²⁵ And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.

¹ If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.² And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.³ For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.⁴ Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.⁵ Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.⁶ Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.⁷ The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.⁸ For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.⁹ And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.¹⁰ Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.¹¹ At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,¹² Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.¹³ Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.¹⁴ O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?¹⁵ For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.¹⁶ Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.¹⁷ As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.¹⁸ Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.¹⁹ My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.²⁰ Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.²¹ How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?²² For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.²³ I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.²⁴ I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.²⁵ I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.²⁶ I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.²⁷ For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.²⁸ For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.²⁹ The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.³⁰ And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.³¹ For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

¹ Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,² Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.³ But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?⁴ For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.⁵ But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;⁶ And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.⁷ Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,⁸ This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.⁹ But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.¹⁰ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:¹¹ Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.¹² Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?¹³ But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.¹⁴ Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.¹⁵ Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.¹⁶ And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?¹⁷ Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.¹⁹ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:²⁰ These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.²¹ Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.²² And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.²³ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.²⁵ Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.²⁶ But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.²⁷ And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.²⁹ And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.³⁰ And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:³¹ Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.³² Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.³³ And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?³⁴ And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.³⁵ And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.³⁶ And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.³⁷ And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.³⁸ And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.³⁹ And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.