Daily Readings - 11/02/2026

^10:1 The fame of Solomon having reached the queen of Sheba… [*a] she came to test him with difficult questions.

^10:2 She brought immense riches to Jerusalem with her, camels laden with spices, great quantities of gold, and precious stones. On coming to Solomon, she opened her mind freely to him;

^10:3 and Solomon had an answer for all her questions, not one of them was too obscure for the king to expound.

^10:4 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built,

^10:5 the food at his table, the accommodation for his officials, the organisation of his staff and the way they were dressed, his cup-bearers, and the holocausts he offered in the Temple of Yahweh, it left her breathless,

^10:6 and she said to the king, ‘What I heard in my own country about you and your wisdom was true, then!

^10:7 Until I came and saw it with my own eyes I could not believe what they told me, but clearly they told me less than half: for wisdom and prosperity you surpass the report I heard.

^10:8 How happy your wives are! How happy are these servants of yours who wait on you always and hear your wisdom!

^10:9 Blessed be Yahweh your God who has granted you his favour, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because of Yahweh’s everlasting love for Israel, he has made you king to deal out law and justice.’

^10:10 And she presented the king with a hundred and twenty talents of gold and great quantities of spices and precious stones; no such wealth of spices ever came again as those given to King Solomon by the queen of Sheba.

^37:1 Do not worry about the wicked, do not envy those who do wrong.

^37:2 Quick as the grass they wither, fading like the green in the field.

^37:3 Trust in Yahweh and do what is good, make your home in the land and live in peace;

^37:4 make Yahweh your only joy and he will give you what your heart desires.

^37:5 Commit your fate to Yahweh, trust in him and he will act:

^37:6 making your Virtue clear as the light, your integrity as bright as noon.

^37:7 Be quiet before Yahweh, and wait patiently for him, not worrying about men who make their fortunes, about men who scheme

^37:8 Enough of anger, leave rage aside, do not worry, nothing but evil can come of it:

^37:9 for the wicked will be expelled, while those who hope in Yahweh shall have the land for their own.

^37:10 A little longer, and the wicked will be no more, search his place well, he will not be there;

^37:11 but the humble shall have the land for their own to enjoy untroubled peace.

^37:12 The wicked man plots against the virtuous, and grinds his teeth at him;

^37:13 but the Lord only laughs at the man, knowing his end is in sight.

^37:15 their swords will only pierce their own hearts and their bows will be smashed.

^37:16 The little the virtuous possesses outweighs all the wealth of the wicked,

^37:17 since the arms of the wicked are doomed to break, and Yahweh will uphold the virtuous.

^37:18 Yahweh takes care of good men’s lives, and their heritage will last for ever;

^37:19 they will not be at a loss when bad times come, in time of famine they will have more than they need.

^37:20 As for the wicked-they will perish, these enemies of Yahweh; they will vanish like the beauty of the meadows, they will vanish in smoke.

^37:21 The wicked man borrows without meaning to repay, but a virtuous man is generous and open-handed;

^37:22 those he blesses will have the land for their own, those he curses will be expelled.

^37:23 Yahweh guides a man’s steps, they are sure, and he takes pleasure in his progress;

^37:24 he may fall, but never fatally, since Yahweh supports him by the hand.

^37:25 Now I am old, but ever since my youth I never saw a virtuous man deserted, or his descendants forced to beg their bread;

^37:26 he is always compassionate, always lending: his children will be blessed.

^37:27 Never yield to evil, practise good and you will have an everlasting home,

^37:28 for Yahweh loves what is right, and never deserts the devout.

^37:29 the virtuous will have the land for their own, and make it their home for ever.

^37:30 The mouth of the virtuous man murmurs wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is right;

^37:31 with the Law of God in his heart his steps can never falter.

^37:32 The wicked man spies on the virtuous, seeking to kill him;

^37:33 Yahweh will never leave him in those clutches, or let him be condemned under trial.

^37:35 I have seen the wicked in his triumph towering like a cedar of Lebanon,

^37:36 but when next I passed, he was not there, I looked for him and he was nowhere to be found.

^37:37 Observe the innocent man, consider the upright: for the man of peace there are descendants,

^37:38 but sinners shall be destroyed altogether, the descendants of the wicked shall be wiped out.

^37:39 The salvation of the virtuous comes from Yahweh, he is their shelter when trouble comes;

^7:14 He called the people to him again and said, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand.

^7:15 Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean.

^7:16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’

^7:17 When he had gone back into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples questioned him about the parable.

^7:18 He said to them, ‘Do you not understand either? Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean,

^7:19 because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he pronounced all foods clean.)

^7:20 And he went on, ‘It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean.

^7:21 For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery,

^7:22 avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly.

^7:23 All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’