Daily Readings - 14/01/2026

^39:1 I said, ‘I will watch how I behave, and not let my tongue lead me into sin; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked man is near me’.

^39:2 I stayed dumb, silent, speechless, though the sight of him thriving made torment increase.

^39:3 My heart had been smouldering inside me, but it flared up at the thought of this and the words burst out,

^39:4 ‘Tell me, Yahweh, when my end will be, how many days are allowed me, show me how frail I am.

^39:5 ‘Look, you have given me an inch or two of life, my life-span is nothing to you; each man that stands on earth is only a puff of wind, (Pause)

^39:6 every man that walks, only a shadow, and the wealth he amasses is only a puff of wind – he does not know who will take it next.’

^39:7 So tell me, Lord, what can I expect? My hope is in you.

^39:8 Free me from all my sins, do not make me the butt of idiots.

^39:9 I am dumb, I speak no more, since you yourself have been at work.

^39:10 Lay your scourge aside, I am worn out with the blows you deal me.

^39:11 You punish man with the penalties of sin, like a moth you eat away all that gives him pleasure – man is indeed only a puff of wind! (Pause)

^39:12 Yahweh, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for help, do not stay deaf to my crying. I am your guest, and only for a time, a nomad like all my ancestors.

^39:13 Look away, let me draw breath, before I go away and am no more!

^1:29 On leaving the synagogue, he went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew.

^1:30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway.

^1:31 He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.

^1:32 That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils.

^1:33 The whole town came crowding round the door,

^1:34 and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.[*b]

^1:35 In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.

^1:36 Simon and his companions set out in search of him,

^1:37 and when they found him they said, ‘Everybody is looking for you’.

^1:38 He answered, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came’.

^1:39 And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.