Daily Readings - 30/04/2026

^13:13 Paul and his friends went by sea from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them to go back to Jerusalem.

^13:14 The others carried on from Perga till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went to synagogue on the sabbath and took their seats.

^13:15 After the lessons from the Law and the Prophets had been read, the presidents of the synagogue sent them a message: ‘Brothers, if you would like to address some words of encouragement to the congregation, please do so’.

^13:16 Paul stood up, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:

^13:17 The God of our nation Israel chose our ancestors, and made our people great when they were living as foreigners in Egypt; then by divine power he led them out,

^13:18 and for about forty years took care of them in the wilderness.

^13:19 When he had destroyed seven nations in Canaan, he put them in possession[*a] of their land

^13:20 for about four hundred and fifty years. After this he gave them judges, down to the prophet Samuel.

^13:21 Then they demanded a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of

^13:22 Benjamin. After forty years, he deposed him and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose”.[*b]

^13:23 To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour,

^13:24 whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel.

^13:25 Before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal”.

^88:1 Yahweh my God, I call for help all day, I weep to you all night;

^88:2 may my prayer reach you hear my cries for help;

^88:3 for my soul is all troubled, my life is on the brink of Sheol;

^88:4 I am numbered among those who go down to the Pit, a man bereft of strength:

^88:5 a man alone, down among the dead, among the slaughtered in their graves, among those you have forgotten, those deprived of your protecting hand.

^88:6 You have plunged me to the bottom of the Pit, to its darkest, deepest place,

^88:7 weighted down by your anger, drowned beneath your waves. (pause)

^88:8 You have turned my friends against me and made me repulsive to them; in prison and unable to escape, my eyes are worn out with suffering.

^88:9 Yahweh, I invoke you all day, I stretch out my hands to you:

^88:10 are your marvels meant for the dead, can ghosts rise up to praise you?

^88:11 Who talks of your love in the grave, of your faithfulness in the place of perdition?

^88:12 Do they hear about your marvels in the dark, about your righteousness in the land of oblivion? (pause)

^88:13 But I am here, calling for your help, praying to you every morning:

^88:14 why do you reject me? Why do you hide your face from me?

^88:15 Wretched, slowly dying since my youth, I bore your terrors – now I am exhausted;

^88:16 your anger overwhelmed me, you destroyed me with your terrors

^88:17 which, like a flood, were round me, all day long, all together closing in on me.

^88:18 You have turned my friends and neighbours against me, now darkness is my one companion left.

^13:16 ‘I tell you most solemnly, no servant is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than the man who sent him.

^13:17 ‘Now that you know this, happiness will be yours if you behave accordingly.

^13:18 I am not speaking about all of you: I know the ones I have chosen; but what scripture says must be fulfilled: Someone who shares my table rebels against me.[*b]

^13:19 ‘I tell you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe that I am He.

^13:20 I tell you most solemnly, whoever welcomes the one I send welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.’