Daily Readings - 17/06/2026

^2:1 This is what happened when Yahweh took Elijah up to heaven in the whirlwind: Elijah and Elisha set out from Gilgal,

^2:6 Elijah said, ‘Elisha, please stay here, Yahweh is only sending me to the Jordan’. But he replied, ‘As Yahweh lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you!’ And they went on together.

^2:7 Fifty of the brotherhood of prophets followed them, halting some distance away as the two of them stood beside the Jordan.

^2:8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water; and the water divided to left and right, and the two of them crossed over dry-shod.

^2:9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Make your request. What can I do for you before I am taken from you?’ Elisha answered, ‘Let me inherit a double share of your spirit’.[*a]

^2:10 ‘Your request is a difficult one’ Elijah said. ‘If you see me while I am being taken from you, it shall be as you ask; if not, it will not be so.’

^2:11 Now as they walked on, talking as they went, a chariot of fire appeared and horses of fire, coming between the two of them; and Elijah went up to heaven in the whirlwind.

^2:12 Elisha saw it, and shouted, ‘My father! My father! Chariot of Israel and its chargers!’ Then he lost sight of him, and taking hold of his clothes he tore them in half.

^2:13 He picked up the cloak of Elijah which had fallen, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

^2:14 He took the cloak of Elijah and struck the water. ‘Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?’ he cried. He struck the water, and it divided to right and left, and Elisha crossed over.

^30:1 High praise, Yahweh, I give you, for you have helped me up, and not let my enemies gloat over me.

^30:2 Yahweh, my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

^30:3 Yahweh, you have brought my soul up from Sheol, of all those who go down to the Pit you have revived me.

^30:4 Play music in Yahweh’s honour, you devout, remember his holiness, and praise him.

^30:5 His anger lasts a moment, his favour a lifetime; in the evening, a spell of tears, in the morning, shouts of joy.

^30:6 In my prosperity, I used to say, ‘Nothing can ever shake me!’

^30:7 Your favour, Yahweh, stood me on a peak impregnable; but then you hid your face and I was terrified.

^30:8 Yahweh, I call to you, I beg my God to pity me,

^30:9 ‘What do you gain by my blood[*a] if I go down to the Pit? Can the dust praise you or proclaim your faithfulness?

^30:10 ‘Hear, Yahweh, take pity on me; Yahweh, help me!’

^30:11 You have turned my mourning into dancing, you have stripped off my sackcloth and wrapped me in gladness

^30:12 and now my heart, silent no longer, will play you music; Yahweh, my God, I will praise you for ever.

^6:1 ‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven.

^6:2 So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward.

^6:3 But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing;

^6:4 your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

^6:5 ‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward.

^6:6 But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray[*a] to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

^6:16 ‘When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward.

^6:17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

^6:18 so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.