Daily Readings

¹ And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.² Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.³ And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.⁴ And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.⁵ And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.⁶ And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.⁷ So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.⁸ David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.⁹ And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?¹⁰ Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD's anointed.¹¹ Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.¹² The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.¹³ As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.¹⁴ After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.¹⁵ The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.¹⁶ And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.¹⁷ And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.¹⁸ And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not.¹⁹ For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.²⁰ And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.²¹ Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house.²² And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.

¹ The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:² To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.³ It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.⁴ Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,⁵ Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.⁶ Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.⁷ But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.⁸ Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.⁹ Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.¹⁰ See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.¹¹ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.¹² Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.¹³ And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.¹⁴ Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.¹⁵ For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.¹⁶ And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.¹⁷ Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.¹⁸ For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.¹⁹ And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

¹ At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.² But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.³ But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;⁴ How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?⁵ Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?⁶ But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.⁷ But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.⁸ For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.⁹ And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:¹⁰ And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.¹¹ And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?¹² How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.¹³ Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.¹⁴ Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.¹⁵ But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;¹⁶ And charged them that they should not make him known:¹⁷ That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,¹⁸ Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.¹⁹ He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.²⁰ A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.²¹ And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.²² Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.²³ And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.²⁵ And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:²⁶ And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?²⁷ And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.²⁸ But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.²⁹ Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.³⁰ He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.³¹ Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.³² And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.³³ Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.³⁴ O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.³⁵ A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.³⁶ But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.³⁷ For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.³⁸ Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.³⁹ But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:⁴⁰ For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.⁴¹ The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.⁴² The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.⁴³ When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.⁴⁴ Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.⁴⁵ Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.⁴⁶ While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.⁴⁷ Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.⁴⁸ But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?⁴⁹ And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!⁵⁰ For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.