Daily Readings - 01/08/2026

^26:11 The priests and prophets then addressed the officials and all the people, ‘This man deserves to die, since he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears’.

^26:12 Jeremiah, however, replied to the people as follows, ‘Yahweh himself sent me to say all the things you have heard against this Temple and this city.

^26:13 So now amend your behaviour and actions, listen to the voice of Yahweh your God: if you do, he will relent and not bring down on you the disaster he has pronounced against you.

^26:14 For myself, I am as you see in your hands. Do whatever you please or think right with me.

^26:15 But be sure of this, that if you put me to death, you will be bringing innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on its citizens, since Yahweh has truly sent me to you to say all these words in your hearing.’

^26:16 The officials and all the people then said to the priests and prophets, ‘This man does not deserve to die: he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God’.

^26:24 But Jeremiah had a protector in Ahikam son of Shaphan,[*b] so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

^69:1 Save me, God! The water is already up to my neck!

^69:2 I am sinking in the deepest swamp, there is no foothold; I have stepped into deep water and the waves are washing over me.

^69:3 Worn out with calling, my throat is hoarse, my eyes are strained, looking for my God.

^69:4 More people hate me for no reason than I have hairs on my head, more are groundlessly hostile than I have hair to show. (They ask me to give back what I never took.)

^69:5 God, you know how foolish I have been, my offences are not hidden from you;

^69:6 but let those who hope in you not blush for me, Yahweh Sabaoth[*a] Let those who seek you not be ashamed of me, God of Israel!

^69:7 It is for you I am putting up with insults that cover me with shame,

^69:8 that make me a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s other sons;

^69:9 zeal for your house devours me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

^69:10 If I mortify myself with fasting, they make this a pretext for insulting me;

^69:11 if I dress myself in sackcloth, I become their laughing-stock,

^69:12 the gossip of people sitting at the city gate, and the theme of drunken songs.

^69:13 For my part, I pray to you, Yahweh, at the time you wish; in your great love, answer me, God, faithful in saving power.

^69:14 Pull me out of this swamp; let me sink no further, let me escape those who hate me, save me from deep water!

^69:15 Do not let the waves wash over me, do not let the deep swallow me or the Pit close its mouth on me.

^69:16 In your loving kindness, answer me, Yahweh, in your great tenderness turn to me;

^69:17 do not hide your face from your servant, quick, I am in trouble, answer me;

^69:18 come to my side, redeem me, from so many enemies ransom me.

^69:21 They gave me poison to eat instead, when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.

^69:22 May their own table prove a trap for them, and their plentiful supplies, a snare!

^69:23 may their eyes grow dim, go blind, strike their loins with chronic palsy!

^69:24 Vent your fury on them, let your burning anger overtake them;

^69:25 may their camp be reduced to ruin, and their tents left unoccupied:

^69:26 for hounding a man after you had struck him, for adding more wounds to those which you inflicted.

^69:27 Charge them with crime after crime, deny them further access to your righteousness,

^69:28 blot them out of the book of life, strike them off the roll of the virtuous!

^69:29 For myself, wounded wretch that I am, by your saving power, God, lift me up!

^69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, I will extol him with my thanksgiving,

^69:31 more pleasing to Yahweh than any ox or bull with horn and hoof.

^69:32 Then, seeing this, the humble can rejoice: long life to your hearts, all you who seek for God!

^69:33 Yahweh will always hear those who are in need, will never scorn his captive people.

^69:34 Let heaven and earth acclaim him, the oceans and all that moves in them!

^69:35 For God will save Zion, and rebuild the towns of Judah: they will be lived in, owned,

^69:36 handed down to his servants’ descendants, and lived in by those who love his name.

^14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the reputation of Jesus,

^14:2 and said to his court, ‘This is John the Baptist himself; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him’.

^14:3 Now it was Herod who had arrested John, chained him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s[*a] wife:.

^14:4 For John had told him, ‘It is against the Law for you to have her’.

^14:5 He had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet.

^14:6 Then, during the celebrations for Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias[*b] danced before the company, and so delighted Herod

^14:7 that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked.

^14:8 Prompted by her mother she said, ‘Give me John the Baptist’s head, here, on a dish’.

^14:9 The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered it to be given her,

^14:10 and sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

^14:11 The head was brought in on a dish and given to the girl who took it to her mother.

^14:12 John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.

^55:1 Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk.

^55:2 Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy.

^55:3 Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live.

^145:1 I sing your praises, God my King, I bless your name for ever and ever,

^145:2 blessing you day after day, and praising your name for ever and ever.

^145:3 Can anyone measure the magnificence of Yahweh the great, and his inexpressible grandeur?

^145:4 Celebrating your acts of power, one age shall praise your doings to another.

^145:5 Oh, the splendour of your glory, your renown! I tell myself the story of your marvellous deeds.

^145:6 Men will proclaim your fearful power and I shall assert your greatness;

^145:7 they will celebrate your generous kindness and joyfully acclaim your righteousness.

^145:8 He, Yahweh, is merciful, tenderhearted, slow to anger, very loving,

^145:9 and universally kind; Yahweh’s tenderness embraces all his creatures.

^145:10 Yahweh, all your creatures thank you, and your faithful bless you.

^145:11 Kingly and glorious they proclaim you, they affirm your might.

^145:12 Let mankind learn your acts of power, and the majestic glory of your sovereignty!

^145:13 Your sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty, your empire lasts from age to age.

^145:14 Only stumble, and Yahweh at once supports you, if others bow you down, he will raise you up.

^145:15 Patiently all creatures look to you to feed them throughout the year;

^145:16 quick to satisfy every need, you feed them all with a generous hand.

^145:17 Righteous in all that he does, Yahweh acts only out of love,

^145:18 standing close to all who invoke him, close to all who invoke Yahweh faithfully.

^145:19 Those who fear him need only to ask to be answered; he hears their cries for help and saves them.

^145:20 Under his protection the pious are safe, but Yahweh is destruction to the wicked.

^145:21 Yahweh’s praise be ever in my mouth, and let every creature bless his holy name for ever and ever!

^8:35 Nothing therefore can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked.

^8:37 These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us.

^8:38 For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power,

^8:39 or height or depth,[*d] nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.

^14:13 When Jesus received this news he withdrew by boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But the people heard of this and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot.

^14:14 So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick.

^14:15 When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food’.

^14:16 Jesus replied, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves’.

^14:17 But they answered ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish’.

^14:18 ‘Bring them here to me’ he said.

^14:19 He gave orders that the people were to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing. And breaking the loaves handed them to his disciples who gave them to the crowds.

^14:20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected the scraps remaining; twelve baskets full.

^14:21 Those who ate numbered about five thousand men, to say nothing of women and children.