Daily Readings - 31/08/2026

^2:1 As for me, brothers, when I came to you, it was not with any show of oratory or philosophy, but simply to tell you what God had guaranteed.

^2:2 During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified Christ.

^2:3 Far from relying on any power of my own, I came among you in great ‘fear and trembling'[*a]

^2:4 and in my speeches and the sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit.

^2:5 And I did this so that your faith should not depend on human philosophy but on the power of God.

^118:1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, his love is everlasting!

^118:2 Let the House of Israel say it, ‘His love is everlasting!’

^118:3 Let the House of Aaron say it, ‘His love is everlasting!’

^118:4 Let those who fear Yahweh say it, ‘His love is everlasting!’

^118:5 Hard-pressed, I invoked Yahweh, he heard me and came to my relief.

^118:6 With Yahweh on my side, I fear nothing: what can man do to me?

^118:7 With Yahweh on my side, best help of all, I can triumph over my enemies.

^118:8 I would rather take refuge in Yahweh than rely on men;

^118:9 I would rather take refuge in Yahweh than rely on princes.

^118:10 The pagans were swarming round me, in the name of Yahweh I cut them down;

^118:11 they swarmed round me closer and closer, in the name of Yahweh I cut them down;

^118:12 they swarmed round me like bees, they blazed like a thorn-fire, in the name of Yahweh I cut them down.

^118:13 I was pressed, pressed, about to fall, but Yahweh came to my help;

^118:14 Yahweh is my strength and my song, he has been my saviour.

^118:15 Shouts of joy and safety in the tents of the virtuous: Yahweh’s right hand is wreaking havoc,

^118:16 Yahweh’s right hand is winning, Yahweh’s right hand is wreaking havoc!

^118:17 No, I shall not die, I shall live to recite the deeds of Yahweh;

^118:18 though Yahweh has punished me often, he has not abandoned me to Death.

^118:19 Open the gates of virtue to me, I will come in and give thanks to Yahweh.

^118:20 This is Yahweh’s gateway, through which the virtuous may enter.

^118:21 I thank you for having heard me, you have been my saviour.

^118:22 It was the stone rejected by the builders that proved to be the keystone;

^118:23 this is Yahweh’s doing and it is wonderful to see.

^118:24 This is the day made memorable by Yahweh, what immense joy for us!

^118:25 Please, Yahweh, please save us. Please, Yahweh, please give us prosperity.

^118:26 Blessings on him who comes in the name of Yahweh! We bless you from the house of Yahweh.

^118:27 Yahweh is God, he smiles on us. With branches in your hands draw up in procession as far as the horns of the altar,

^118:28 You are my God, I give you thanks, I extol you, my God; I give you thanks for having heard me, you have been my saviour.

^118:29 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, his love is everlasting!

^4:16 He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read[*e]

^4:17 and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

^4:18 The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free,

^4:19 to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour[*f].

^4:20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him.

^4:21 Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen’.

^4:22 And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son, surely?’

^4:23 But he replied, ‘No doubt you will quote me the saying, “Physician, heal yourself” and tell me, “We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own countryside”‘.

^4:24 And he went on, ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.

^4:25 ‘There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land,

^4:26 but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town[*g].

^4:27 And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.’

^4:28 When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged.

^4:29 They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff,

^4:30 but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.