Daily Readings - 28/05/2026

^22:9 When they arrived at the place God had pointed out to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son Isaac and put him on the altar on top of the wood.

^22:10 Abraham stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill his son.

^22:11 But the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I am here’ he replied.

^22:12 ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son, your only son.’

^22:13 Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt-offering in place of his son.

^22:14 Abraham called this place ‘Yahweh provides’, and hence the saying today: On the mountain Yahweh provides.

^22:15 The angel of Yahweh called Abraham a second time from heaven.

^22:16 ‘I swear by my own self – it is Yahweh who speaks – because you have done this, because you have not refused me your son, your only son,

^22:17 I will shower blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall gain possession of the gates[*b] of their enemies.

^22:18 All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience.’

^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.

^39:1 I said, ‘I will watch how I behave, and not let my tongue lead me into sin; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked man is near me’.

^39:2 I stayed dumb, silent, speechless, though the sight of him thriving made torment increase.

^39:3 My heart had been smouldering inside me, but it flared up at the thought of this and the words burst out,

^39:4 ‘Tell me, Yahweh, when my end will be, how many days are allowed me, show me how frail I am.

^39:5 ‘Look, you have given me an inch or two of life, my life-span is nothing to you; each man that stands on earth is only a puff of wind, (Pause)

^39:6 every man that walks, only a shadow, and the wealth he amasses is only a puff of wind – he does not know who will take it next.’

^39:7 So tell me, Lord, what can I expect? My hope is in you.

^39:8 Free me from all my sins, do not make me the butt of idiots.

^39:9 I am dumb, I speak no more, since you yourself have been at work.

^39:10 Lay your scourge aside, I am worn out with the blows you deal me.

^39:11 You punish man with the penalties of sin, like a moth you eat away all that gives him pleasure – man is indeed only a puff of wind! (Pause)

^39:12 Yahweh, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for help, do not stay deaf to my crying. I am your guest, and only for a time, a nomad like all my ancestors.

^39:13 Look away, let me draw breath, before I go away and am no more!

^26:36 Then Jesus came with them to a small estate called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Stay here while I go over there to pray’.

^26:37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. And sadness came over him, and great distress.

^26:38 Then he said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here and keep awake with me.’

^26:39 And going on a little further he fell on his face and prayed. ‘My Father,’ he said ‘if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.’

^26:40 He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘So you had not the strength to keep awake with me one hour?

^26:41 You should be awake, and praying not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’

^26:42 Again, a second time, he went away and prayed: ‘My Father,’ he said ‘If this cup cannot pass by without my drinking it, your will be done!’