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.

^31:1 In you, Yahweh, I take shelter; never let me be disgraced. In your righteousness deliver me, rescue me,

^31:2 turn your ear to me, make haste! Be a sheltering rock for me, a walled fortress to save me!

^31:3 For you are my rock, my fortress; for the sake of your name, guide me, lead me!

^31:4 Pull me out of the net they have spread for me, for you are my refuge;

^31:5 into your hands I commit my spirit, you have redeemed me, Yahweh. God of truth,

^31:6 you hate those who serve worthless idols; but I put my trust in Yahweh:

^31:7 I will exult, and rejoice in your love! You, who have seen my wretchedness, and known the miseries of my soul,

^31:8 have not handed me over to the enemy, you have given my feet space and to spare.

^31:9 Take pity on me, Yahweh, I am in trouble now. Grief wastes away my eye, my throat, my inmost parts.

^31:10 For my life is worn out with sorrow, my years with sighs; my strength yields under misery, my bones are wasting away.

^31:11 To every one of my oppressors I am contemptible, loathsome to my neighbours, to my friends a thing of fear. Those who see me in the street hurry past me;

^31:12 I am forgotten, as good as dead in their hearts, something discarded.

^31:13 I hear their endless slanders, threats from every quarter, as they combine against me, plotting to take my life.

^31:14 But I put my trust in you, Yahweh, I say, ‘You are my God’.

^31:15 My days are in your hand, rescue me from the hands of my enemies and persecutors;

^31:16 let your face smile on your servant, save me in your love.

^31:17 I invoke you; Yahweh; do not let me be disgraced, let the disgrace fall on the wicked! May they go speechless to Sheol,

^31:18 their lying lips struck dumb for those insolent slurs on the virtuous, for that arrogance and contempt.

^31:19 Yahweh, how great your goodness, reserved for those who fear you, bestowed on those who take shelter in you, for all mankind to see!

^31:20 Safe in your presence you hide them far from the wiles of men; inside your tent you shelter them far from the war of tongues.

^31:21 Blessed be Yahweh, who performs marvels of love for me (in a fortress-city)!

^31:22 In my alarm I exclaimed, ‘I have been snatched out of your sight!’ Yet you heard my petition when I called to you for help.

^31:23 Love Yahweh, all you devout: Yahweh, protector of the faithful, will repay the arrogant with interest.

^31:24 Be strong, let your heart be bold, all you who hope in Yahweh!

^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.