Daily Readings - 06/03/2026

^37:3 Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, for he was the son of his old age, and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him.

^37:4 But his brothers, seeing how his father loved him more than all his other sons, came to hate him so much that they could not say a civil word to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and he repeated it to his brothers.

^37:12 His brothers went to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem.

^37:13 Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers with the flock at Shechem? Come, I am going to send you to them.’. ‘I am ready’ he replied.

^37:17 The man answered, ‘They have moved on from here; indeed I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan”‘. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

^37:18 They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them they made a plot among themselves to put him to death.

^37:19 ‘Here comes the man of dreams’ they said to one another.

^37:20 ‘Come on, let us kill him and throw him into some well; we can say that a wild beast devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.’

^37:21 But Reuben heard, and he saved him from their violence. ‘We must not take his life’ he said.

^37:22 ‘Shed no blood,’ said Reuben to them ‘throw him into this well in the wilderness, but do not lay violent hands on him’ – intending to save him from them and to restore him to his father.

^37:23 So, when Joseph reached his brothers, they pulled off his coat, the coat with long sleeves that he was wearing,

^37:24 and catching hold of him they threw him into the well, an empty well with no water in it.

^37:25 They then sat down to eat. Looking up they saw a group of Ishmaelites who were coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, tragacanth, balsam and resin, which they were taking down into Egypt.

^37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood?[*a]

^37:27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do any harm to him. After all, he is our brother, and our own flesh.’ His brothers agreed.

^37:28 Now some Midianite merchants were passing, and they drew Joseph up out of the well. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver pieces, and these men took Joseph to Egypt.

^104:1 Bless Yahweh, my soul. Yahweh my God, how great you are! Clothed in majesty and glory,

^104:2 wrapped in a robe of light! You stretch the heavens out like a tent,

^104:3 you build your palace on the waters above; using the clouds as your chariot, you advance on the wings of the wind;

^104:4 you use the winds as messengers and fiery flames as servants.

^104:5 You fixed the earth on its foundations, unshakeable for ever and ever;

^104:6 you wrapped it with the deep as with a robe, the waters overtopping the mountains.

^104:7 At your reproof the waters took to flight, they fled at the sound of your thunder,

^104:8 cascading over the mountains, into the valleys, down to the reservoir you made for them;

^104:9 you imposed the limits they must never cross again, or they would once more flood the land.

^104:10 You set springs gushing in ravines, running down between the mountains,

^104:11 supplying water for wild animals, attracting the thirsty wild donkeys;

^104:12 near there the birds of the air make their nests and sing among the branches.

^104:13 From your palace you water the uplands until the ground has had all that your heavens have to offer;

^104:14 you make fresh grass grow for cattle and those plants made use of by man, for them to get food from the soil:

^104:15 wine to make them cheerful, oil to make them happy and bread to make them strong.

^104:16 The trees of Yahweh get rain enough, those cedars of Lebanon he planted;

^104:17 here the little birds build their nest and, on the highest branches, the stork has its home.

^104:18 For the wild goats there are the mountains, in the crags rock-badgers hide.

^104:19 You made the moon to tell the seasons, the sun knows when to set:

^104:20 you bring darkness on, night falls, all the forest animals come out:

^104:21 savage lions roaring for their prey, claiming their food from God.

^104:22 The sun rises, they retire, going back to lie down in their lairs,

^104:23 and man goes out to work, and to labour until dusk.

^104:24 Yahweh, what variety you have created, arranging everything so wisely! Earth is completely full of things you have made:

^104:25 among them vast expanse of ocean, teeming with countless creatures, creatures large and small,

^104:26 with the ships going to and fro and Leviathan whom you made to amuse you.

^104:27 All creatures depend on you to feed them throughout the year;

^104:28 you provide the food they eat, with generous hand you satisfy their hunger.

^104:29 You turn your face away, they suffer, you stop their breath, they die and revert to dust.

^104:30 You give breath, fresh life begins, you keep renewing the world.

^104:31 Glory for ever to Yahweh! May Yahweh find joy in what he creates,

^104:32 at whose glance the earth trembles, at whose touch the mountains smoke!

^104:33 I mean to sing to Yahweh all my life, I mean to play for my God as long as I live.

^104:34 May these reflections of mine give him pleasure, as much as Yahweh gives me!

^104:35 May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked exist no more! Bless Yahweh, my soul.

^21:33 ‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad.

^21:34 When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce.

^21:35 But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third.

^21:36 Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way.

^21:37 Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said.

^21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.”

^21:39 So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

^21:40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’

^21:41 They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives’.

^21:42 Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone. This was the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful to see?[*h]

^21:43 I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’

^21:45 When they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was speaking about them,

^21:46 but though they would have liked to arrest him they were afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.