Daily Readings - 28/08/2026

^1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in the terms of philosophy[*b] in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed.

^1:18 The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save.

^1:19 As scripture says: I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned.

^1:20 Where are the philosophers now? Where are the scribes?[*c] Where are any of our thinkers today? Do you see now how God has shown up the foolishness of human wisdom?

^1:21 If it was God’s wisdom that human wisdom should not know God, it was because God wanted to save those who have faith through the foolishness of the message that we preach.

^1:22 And so, while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom,

^1:23 here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness,

^1:24 but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God.

^1:25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

^33:1 Shout for joy to Yahweh, all virtuous men, praise comes well from upright hearts;

^33:2 give thanks to Yahweh on the lyre, play to him on the ten-string harp;

^33:3 sing a new song in his honour, play with all your skill as you acclaim[*a] him!

^33:4 The word of Yahweh is integrity itself, all he does is done faithfully;

^33:5 he loves virtue and justice, Yahweh’s love fills the earth.

^33:6 By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, their whole array by the breath of his mouth;

^33:7 he collects the ocean waters as though in a wineskin, he stores the deeps in cellars.

^33:8 Let the whole world fear Yahweh, let all who live on earth revere him!

^33:9 He spoke, and it was created; he commanded, and there it stood.

^33:10 Yahweh thwarts the plans of nations, frustrates the intentions of peoples;

^33:11 but Yahweh’s plans hold good for ever, the intentions of his heart from age to age.

^33:12 Happy the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people he has chosen for his heritage.

^33:13 Yahweh looks down from heaven, he sees the whole human race;

^33:14 from where he sits he watches all who live on the earth,

^33:15 he who moulds every heart and takes note of all men do.

^33:16 A large army will not keep a king safe, nor does the hero escape by his great strength;

^33:17 it is delusion to rely on the horse for safety, for all its power, it cannot save.

^33:18 But see how the eye of Yahweh is on those who fear him, on those who rely on his love,

^33:19 to rescue their souls from death and keep them alive in famine.

^33:20 Our soul awaits Yahweh, he is our help and shield;

^33:21 our hearts rejoice in him, we trust in his holy name.

^33:22 Yahweh, let your love rest on us as our hope has rested in you.

^25:1 ‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

^25:2 Five of them were foolish and five were sensible:

^25:3 the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil,

^25:4 whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps.

^25:5 The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.

^25:6 But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.”

^25:7 At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps,

^25:8 and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out”.

^25:9 But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves”.

^25:10 They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed.

^25:11 The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.”

^25:12 But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you”.

^25:13 So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.