25th September

¹ Now Benjamin begat Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, and Aharah the third,² Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.³ And the sons of Bela were, Addar, and Gera, and Abihud,⁴ And Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,⁵ And Gera, and Shephuphan, and Huram.⁶ And these are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Geba, and they removed them to Manahath:⁷ And Naaman, and Ahiah, and Gera, he removed them, and begat Uzza, and Ahihud.⁸ And Shaharaim begat children in the country of Moab, after he had sent them away; Hushim and Baara were his wives.⁹ And he begat of Hodesh his wife, Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha, and Malcham,¹⁰ And Jeuz, and Shachia, and Mirma. These were his sons, heads of the fathers.¹¹ And of Hushim he begat Abitub, and Elpaal.¹² The sons of Elpaal; Eber, and Misham, and Shamed, who built Ono, and Lod, with the towns thereof:¹³ Beriah also, and Shema, who were heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove away the inhabitants of Gath:¹⁴ And Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth,¹⁵ And Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader,¹⁶ And Michael, and Ispah, and Joha, the sons of Beriah;¹⁷ And Zebadiah, and Meshullam, and Hezeki, and Heber,¹⁸ Ishmerai also, and Jezliah, and Jobab, the sons of Elpaal;¹⁹ And Jakim, and Zichri, and Zabdi,²⁰ And Elienai, and Zilthai, and Eliel,²¹ And Adaiah, and Beraiah, and Shimrath, the sons of Shimhi;²² And Ishpan, and Heber, and Eliel,²³ And Abdon, and Zichri, and Hanan,²⁴ And Hananiah, and Elam, and Antothijah,²⁵ And Iphedeiah, and Penuel, the sons of Shashak;²⁶ And Shamsherai, and Shehariah, and Athaliah,²⁷ And Jaresiah, and Eliah, and Zichri, the sons of Jeroham.²⁸ These were heads of the fathers, by their generations, chief men. These dwelt in Jerusalem.²⁹ And at Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon; whose wife's name was Maachah:³⁰ And his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab,³¹ And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zacher.³² And Mikloth begat Shimeah. And these also dwelt with their brethren in Jerusalem, over against them.³³ And Ner begat Kish, and Kish begat Saul, and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.³⁴ And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal; and Meribbaal begat Micah.³⁵ And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea, and Ahaz.³⁶ And Ahaz begat Jehoadah; and Jehoadah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza,³⁷ And Moza begat Binea: Rapha was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son:³⁸ And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.³⁹ And the sons of Eshek his brother were, Ulam his firstborn, Jehush the second, and Eliphelet the third.⁴⁰ And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour, archers, and had many sons, and sons' sons, an hundred and fifty. All these are of the sons of Benjamin.

¹ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,² Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,³ And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.⁴ Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:⁵ That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.⁶ Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.⁷ And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.⁸ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,⁹ Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:¹⁰ It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.¹¹ And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.¹² Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.¹³ Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.¹⁴ Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together. and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.¹⁵ I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.¹⁶ Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.¹⁷ I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.¹⁸ The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,¹⁹ Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.²⁰ Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.²¹ For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.²² At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.²³ And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.²⁴ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.²⁵ And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,²⁶ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.²⁷ I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.²⁸ And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:²⁹ Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.³⁰ Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.³¹ And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.³² Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

¹ And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;² Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:³ And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.⁴ And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;⁵ Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.⁶ And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.⁷ And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?⁸ I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?⁹ And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:¹⁰ Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.¹² I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.¹³ And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.¹⁵ And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.¹⁶ But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.¹⁷ Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.¹⁸ And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?¹⁹ And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.²⁰ Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.²¹ And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.²² Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.²³ And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.²⁴ And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.²⁶ And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?²⁷ And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.²⁸ Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.²⁹ And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,³⁰ Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.³¹ Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.³² For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:³³ And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.³⁴ And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.³⁵ And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:³⁶ And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.³⁷ And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.³⁸ And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.³⁹ And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.⁴⁰ And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,⁴¹ Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.⁴² And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.⁴³ And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.