Daily Readings

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,² Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.³ And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian.⁴ Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.⁵ So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.⁶ And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.⁷ And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.⁸ And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.⁹ And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.¹⁰ And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.¹¹ And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.¹² And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.¹³ And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.¹⁴ And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.¹⁵ And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?¹⁶ Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.¹⁷ Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.¹⁸ But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.¹⁹ And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.²⁰ And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood.²¹ And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses;²² Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,²³ Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.²⁴ And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.²⁵ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,²⁶ Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation:²⁷ And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:²⁸ And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:²⁹ Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the LORD.³⁰ And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.³¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.³² And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,³³ And threescore and twelve thousand beeves,³⁴ And threescore and one thousand asses,³⁵ And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him.³⁶ And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep:³⁷ And the LORD's tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.³⁸ And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the LORD's tribute was threescore and twelve.³⁹ And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the LORD's tribute was threescore and one.⁴⁰ And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the LORD's tribute was thirty and two persons.⁴¹ And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD's heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.⁴² And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided from the men that warred,⁴³ (Now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep,⁴⁴ And thirty and six thousand beeves,⁴⁵ And thirty thousand asses and five hundred,⁴⁶ And sixteen thousand persons;)⁴⁷ Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.⁴⁸ And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:⁴⁹ And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.⁵⁰ We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD.⁵¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.⁵² And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.⁵³ (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)⁵⁴ And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.

¹ A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.² The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.³ A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.⁴ By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.⁷ The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.⁸ He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.⁹ He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.¹⁰ Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.¹¹ He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.¹² The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.¹³ The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.¹⁴ The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.¹⁵ Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.¹⁶ He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.¹⁷ Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.¹⁸ For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.¹⁹ That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.²⁰ Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,²¹ That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?²² Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:²³ For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.²⁴ Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:²⁵ Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.²⁶ Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.²⁷ If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?²⁸ Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.²⁹ Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

¹ When therefore the LORD knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,² (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)³ He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.⁴ And he must needs go through Samaria.⁵ Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.⁶ Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.⁷ There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.⁸ (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)⁹ Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.¹⁰ Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.¹¹ The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?¹² Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?¹³ Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:¹⁴ But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.¹⁵ The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.¹⁶ Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.¹⁷ The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:¹⁸ For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.¹⁹ The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.²⁰ Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.²¹ Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.²² Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.²³ But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.²⁴ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.²⁵ The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.²⁶ Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.²⁷ And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?²⁸ The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,²⁹ Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?³⁰ Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.³¹ In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.³² But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.³³ Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?³⁴ Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.³⁵ Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.³⁶ And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.³⁷ And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.³⁸ I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.³⁹ And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.⁴¹ And many more believed because of his own word;⁴² And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.⁴³ Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.⁴⁴ For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.⁴⁵ Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.⁴⁶ So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.⁴⁸ Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.⁴⁹ The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.⁵⁰ Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.⁵¹ And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.⁵² Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.⁵³ So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.⁵⁴ This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.