Daily Readings - 18/07/2026

^9:1 I thank you, Yahweh, with all my heart; I recite your marvels one by one,

^9:2 I rejoice and exult in you, I sing praise to your name, Most High.

^9:3 My enemies are in retreat, stumbling, perishing as you confront them:

^9:4 you have upheld the justice of my cause from the throne where you sit as righteous judge.

^9:5 You have checked the nations, you have crushed the wicked, blotted out their name for ever and ever;

^9:6 the enemy is finished, in everlasting ruin, you have overthrown cities, their memory has perished.

^9:7 See, Yahweh is enthroned for ever, he sets up his throne for judgement;

^9:8 he is going to judge the world with justice, and pronounce a true verdict on the nations.

^9:9 May Yahweh be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold when times are hard.

^9:10 Those who acknowledge your name can rely on you, you never desert those who seek you, Yahweh.

^9:11 To Yahweh with his home in Zion, sing praise, tell the nations of his mighty actions;

^9:12 he, the avenger of blood, remembers them, he does not ignore the cry of the wretched.

^9:13 Take pity on me, Yahweh, look on my suffering, you who lift me back from the gates of death,

^9:14 that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may recite your praises one by one, rejoicing that you have saved me.

^9:15 The nations have sunk into a pit of their own making, they are caught by the feet in the snare they set themselves.

^9:16 Yahweh has made himself known, has given judgement, he has trapped the wicked in the work of their own hands. (Muted music)

^9:17 May the wicked return to Sheol (pause), all the nations forgetful of God.

^9:18 For the needy is not always forgotten, the hope of the poor is never brought to nothing.

^9:19 Rise, Yahweh, let not man have the upper hand, let the nations stand trial before you!

^9:20 Strike terror into them, Yahweh, let the nations know they are only men! (pause)

^12:14 At this the Pharisees went out and began to plot against him, discussing how to destroy him.

^12:15 Jesus knew this and withdrew from the district. Many followed him and he cured them all,

^12:16 but warned them not to make him known.

^12:17 This was to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah:

^12:18 Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, the favourite of my soul. I will endow him with my spirit, and he will proclaim the true faith to the nations.

^12:19 He will not brawl or shout, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

^12:20 He will not break the crushed reed, nor put out the smouldering wick till he has led the truth to victory:

^12:21 in his name the nations will put their hope.[*a]

^12:13 For there is no god, other than you, who cares for every thing, to whom you might have to prove that you never judged unjustly;

^12:16 Your justice has its source in strength, your sovereignty over all makes you lenient to all.

^12:17 You show your strength when your sovereign power is questioned and you expose the insolence of those who know it;

^12:18 but, disposing of such strength, you are mild in judgement, you govern us with great lenience, for you have only to will, and your power is there.

^12:19 By acting thus you have taught a lesson to your people how the virtuous man must be kindly to his fellow men, and you have given your sons the good hope that after sin you will grant repentance.

^86:1 Listen to me, Yahweh, and answer me, poor and needy as I am;

^86:2 keep my soul: I am your devoted one, save your servant who relies on you. You are my God,

^86:3 take pity on me, Lord, I invoke you all day long;

^86:4 give your servant reason to rejoice, for to you, Lord, I lift my soul.

^86:5 Lord, you are good and forgiving, most loving to all who invoke you;

^86:6 Yahweh, hear my prayer, listen to me as I plead.

^86:7 Lord, in trouble I invoke you, and you answer my prayer;

^86:8 there is no god to compare with you, no achievement to compare with yours.

^86:9 All the pagans will come and adore you, Lord, all will glorify your name,

^86:10 since you alone are great, you perform marvels, you God, you alone.

^86:11 Yahweh, teach me your way, how to walk beside you faithfully, make me single-hearted in fearing your name.

^86:12 I thank you with all my heart, Lord my God, I glorify your name for ever,

^86:13 your love for me has been so great, you have rescued me from the depths of Sheol.

^86:14 Now arrogant men, God, are attacking me, a brutal gang hounding me to death: people to whom you mean nothing.

^86:15 Lord God, you who are always merciful and tender-hearted, slow to anger, always loving, always loyal,

^86:16 turn to me and pity me. Give me your strength, your saving help, me your servant, this son of a pious mother,

^86:17 give me one proof of your goodness. Yahweh, make my opponents ashamed, show them that you are my help and consolation.

^8:26 The Spirit too comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words,

^8:27 and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.

^13:24 He put another parable before them, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

^13:25 While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off.

^13:26 When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well.

^13:27 The owner’s servants went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?”

^13:28 “Some enemy has done this” he answered. And the servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?”

^13:29 But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it.

^13:30 Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”‘

^13:31 He put another parable before them, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field.

^13:32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.’

^13:33 He told them another parable, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through’.

^13:34 In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables.

^13:35 This was to fulfil the prophecy: I will speak to you in parables and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.[*b]

^13:36 Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us’.

^13:37 He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man.

^13:38 The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one;

^13:39 the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels.

^13:40 Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time.

^13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil,

^13:42 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

^13:43 Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.[*c] Listen, anyone who has ears!