Daily Readings - 05/11/2026

^3:3 We are the real people of the circumcision, we who worship in accordance with the Spirit of God; we have our own glory from Christ Jesus without having to rely on a physical operation.

^3:4 If it came to relying on physical evidence, I should be fully qualified myself. Take any man who thinks he can rely on what is physical: I am even better qualified.

^3:5 I was born of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrew parents, and I was circumcised when I was eight days old. As for the Law, I was a Pharisee;

^3:6 as for working for religion, I was a persecutor of the Church; as far as the Law can make you perfect, I was faultless.

^3:7 But because of Christ, I have come to consider all these advantages that I had as disadvantages.

^3:8 Not only that, but I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ

^104:1 Bless Yahweh, my soul. Yahweh my God, how great you are! Clothed in majesty and glory,

^104:2 wrapped in a robe of light! You stretch the heavens out like a tent,

^104:3 you build your palace on the waters above; using the clouds as your chariot, you advance on the wings of the wind;

^104:4 you use the winds as messengers and fiery flames as servants.

^104:5 You fixed the earth on its foundations, unshakeable for ever and ever;

^104:6 you wrapped it with the deep as with a robe, the waters overtopping the mountains.

^104:7 At your reproof the waters took to flight, they fled at the sound of your thunder,

^104:8 cascading over the mountains, into the valleys, down to the reservoir you made for them;

^104:9 you imposed the limits they must never cross again, or they would once more flood the land.

^104:10 You set springs gushing in ravines, running down between the mountains,

^104:11 supplying water for wild animals, attracting the thirsty wild donkeys;

^104:12 near there the birds of the air make their nests and sing among the branches.

^104:13 From your palace you water the uplands until the ground has had all that your heavens have to offer;

^104:14 you make fresh grass grow for cattle and those plants made use of by man, for them to get food from the soil:

^104:15 wine to make them cheerful, oil to make them happy and bread to make them strong.

^104:16 The trees of Yahweh get rain enough, those cedars of Lebanon he planted;

^104:17 here the little birds build their nest and, on the highest branches, the stork has its home.

^104:18 For the wild goats there are the mountains, in the crags rock-badgers hide.

^104:19 You made the moon to tell the seasons, the sun knows when to set:

^104:20 you bring darkness on, night falls, all the forest animals come out:

^104:21 savage lions roaring for their prey, claiming their food from God.

^104:22 The sun rises, they retire, going back to lie down in their lairs,

^104:23 and man goes out to work, and to labour until dusk.

^104:24 Yahweh, what variety you have created, arranging everything so wisely! Earth is completely full of things you have made:

^104:25 among them vast expanse of ocean, teeming with countless creatures, creatures large and small,

^104:26 with the ships going to and fro and Leviathan whom you made to amuse you.

^104:27 All creatures depend on you to feed them throughout the year;

^104:28 you provide the food they eat, with generous hand you satisfy their hunger.

^104:29 You turn your face away, they suffer, you stop their breath, they die and revert to dust.

^104:30 You give breath, fresh life begins, you keep renewing the world.

^104:31 Glory for ever to Yahweh! May Yahweh find joy in what he creates,

^104:32 at whose glance the earth trembles, at whose touch the mountains smoke!

^104:33 I mean to sing to Yahweh all my life, I mean to play for my God as long as I live.

^104:34 May these reflections of mine give him pleasure, as much as Yahweh gives me!

^104:35 May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked exist no more! Bless Yahweh, my soul.

^15:1 The tax collectors and the sinners, meanwhile, were all seeking his company to hear what he had to say,

^15:2 and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

^15:3 So he spoke this parable to them:

^15:4 ‘What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it?

^15:5 And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders

^15:6 and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” he would say “I have found my sheep that was lost.”

^15:7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.

^15:8 ‘Or again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it?

^15:9 And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” she would say “I have found the drachma I lost.”

^15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’