Daily Readings - 25/03/2026

^40:1 I waited and waited for Yahweh, now at last he has stooped to me and heard my cry for help.

^40:2 He has pulled me out of the horrible pit, out of the slough of the marsh, has settled my feet on a rock and steadied my steps.

^40:3 He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; dread will seize many at the sight, and they will put their trust in Yahweh.

^40:4 Happy the man who puts his trust in Yahweh, and does not side with rebels who stray after false gods.

^40:5 How many wonders you have done for us, Yahweh, my God! How many plans you have made for us; you have no equal! I want to proclaim them, again and again, but they are more than I can count.

^40:6 You, who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, opened my ear, you asked no holocaust or sacrifice for sin;

^40:7 then I said, ‘Here I am! I am coming!’ In the scroll of the book am I not commanded

^40:8 to obey your will? My God, I have always loved your Law from the depths of my being.

^40:9 I have always proclaimed the righteousness of Yahweh in the Great Assembly; nor do I mean to stop proclaiming, as you know well.

^40:10 I have never kept your righteousness to myself, but have spoken of your faithfulness and saving help; I have made no secret of your love and faithfulness in the Great Assembly.

^40:11 For your part, Yahweh, do not withhold your kindness from me! May your love and faithfulness constantly preserve me.

^40:12 More misfortunes beset me than I can count, my sins close in on me until I can hardly see, they outnumber the hairs on my head; my courage is running out.

^40:13 Oh come and rescue me, Yahweh, Yahweh come quickly and help me!

^40:14 Shame and dishonour on all who are out to kill, to destroy me! Down with them! Disgrace on those who enjoy my misfortune!

^40:15 May they be aghast with shame, those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’

^40:16 But joy and gladness for all who seek you! To all who love your saving power give constant cause to say, ‘God is great!’

^40:17 To me, poor wretch, come quickly, Lord! My helper, my saviour, my God, come and do not delay!

^10:4 Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking away sins,

^10:5 and this is what he said, on coming into the world: You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, prepared a body for me.

^10:6 You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin;

^10:7 then I said, just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book, ‘God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.'[*a]

^10:8 Notice that he says first: You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations, the holocausts and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them;

^10:9 and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to replace it with the second.

^10:10 And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.

^1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

^1:27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

^1:28 He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’

^1:29 She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean,

^1:30 but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour.

^1:31 Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.

^1:32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David;

^1:33 he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’

^1:34 Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?'[*g]

^1:35 ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God.

^1:36 Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month,

^1:37 for nothing is impossible to God'[*h]

^1:38 ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.