Daily Readings - 20/04/2026

^6:8 Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people.

^6:9 But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen,[*c] and others from Cilicia and Asia.

^6:10 They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said.

^6:11 So they procured some men to say, ‘We heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God’.

^6:12 Having in this way turned the people against him as well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by surprise, and arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin.

^6:13 There they put up false witnesses to say, ‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law.

^6:14 We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.’

^6:15 The members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.

^118:1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, his love is everlasting!

^118:2 Let the House of Israel say it, ‘His love is everlasting!’

^118:3 Let the House of Aaron say it, ‘His love is everlasting!’

^118:4 Let those who fear Yahweh say it, ‘His love is everlasting!’

^118:5 Hard-pressed, I invoked Yahweh, he heard me and came to my relief.

^118:6 With Yahweh on my side, I fear nothing: what can man do to me?

^118:7 With Yahweh on my side, best help of all, I can triumph over my enemies.

^118:8 I would rather take refuge in Yahweh than rely on men;

^118:9 I would rather take refuge in Yahweh than rely on princes.

^118:10 The pagans were swarming round me, in the name of Yahweh I cut them down;

^118:11 they swarmed round me closer and closer, in the name of Yahweh I cut them down;

^118:12 they swarmed round me like bees, they blazed like a thorn-fire, in the name of Yahweh I cut them down.

^118:13 I was pressed, pressed, about to fall, but Yahweh came to my help;

^118:14 Yahweh is my strength and my song, he has been my saviour.

^118:15 Shouts of joy and safety in the tents of the virtuous: Yahweh’s right hand is wreaking havoc,

^118:16 Yahweh’s right hand is winning, Yahweh’s right hand is wreaking havoc!

^118:17 No, I shall not die, I shall live to recite the deeds of Yahweh;

^118:18 though Yahweh has punished me often, he has not abandoned me to Death.

^118:19 Open the gates of virtue to me, I will come in and give thanks to Yahweh.

^118:20 This is Yahweh’s gateway, through which the virtuous may enter.

^118:21 I thank you for having heard me, you have been my saviour.

^118:22 It was the stone rejected by the builders that proved to be the keystone;

^118:23 this is Yahweh’s doing and it is wonderful to see.

^118:24 This is the day made memorable by Yahweh, what immense joy for us!

^118:25 Please, Yahweh, please save us. Please, Yahweh, please give us prosperity.

^118:26 Blessings on him who comes in the name of Yahweh! We bless you from the house of Yahweh.

^118:27 Yahweh is God, he smiles on us. With branches in your hands draw up in procession as far as the horns of the altar,

^118:28 You are my God, I give you thanks, I extol you, my God; I give you thanks for having heard me, you have been my saviour.

^118:29 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, his love is everlasting!

^6:22 Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves.

^6:23 Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten.

^6:24 When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus.

^6:25 When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’

^6:26 Jesus answered: ‘I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.

^6:27 Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’

^6:28 Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’

^6:29 Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent’.