Daily Readings - 12/12/2026

^48:1 Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch.

^48:2 It was he who brought famine on them, and who decimated them in his zeal.

^48:3 By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens, he also, three times, brought down fire.

^48:4 How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah! Has anyone reason to boast as you have?-

^48:9 taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses;

^48:10 designated in the prophecies of doom to allay God’s wrath before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children,[*a] and to restore the tribes of Jacob,

^48:11 Happy shall they be who see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love; for we too will have life.

^79:1 God, the pagans have invaded your heritage, they have desecrated your holy Temple; they have reduced Jerusalem to a pile of ruins,

^79:2 they have left the corpses of your servants to the birds of the air for food, and the flesh of your devout to the beasts of the earth.

^79:3 They have shed blood like water throughout Jerusalem, not a gravedigger left!

^79:4 we are now insulted by our neighbours, butt and laughing-stock of all those around us.

^79:5 How much longer will you be angry, Yahweh? For ever? Is your jealousy to go on smouldering like a fire?

^79:6 Pour out your anger on the pagans, who do not acknowledge you, and on those kingdoms that do not call on your name,

^79:7 for they have devoured Jacob and reduced his home to desolation.

^79:8 Do not hold our ancestors’ crimes against us, in tenderness quickly intervene, we can hardly be crushed lower;

^79:9 help us, God our saviour, for the honour of your name; Yahweh, blot out our sins, rescue us for the sake of your name.

^79:10 Why should the pagans ask, ‘Where is their God?’ May we soon see the pagans learning what vengeance you exact for your servants’ blood shed here!

^79:11 May the groans of the captive reach you; by your mighty arm rescue those doomed to die!

^79:12 Pay our neighbours sevenfold, strike to the heart for the monstrous insult proffered to you, Lord!

^79:13 And we your people, the flock that you pasture, giving you everlasting thanks, will recite your praises for ever and ever.

^17:10 And the disciples put this question to him, ‘Why do the scribes say then that Elijah has to come first?’

^17:11 ‘True;’ he replied ‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be;

^17:12 however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands.’

^17:13 The disciples understood then that he had been speaking of John the Baptist.

^61:1 The spirit of the Lord Yahweh has been given to me, for Yahweh has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken; to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison;

^61:2 to proclaim a year of favour from Yahweh, a day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all those who mourn

^61:10 ‘I exult for joy in Yahweh, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity, like a bridegroom wearing his wreath, like a bride adorned in her jewels.

^61:11 ‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow, as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord Yahweh make both integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.’

^1:46 And Mary[*i] said: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

^1:47 and my spirit exults in God my saviour;

^1:48 because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,

^1:49 for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name,

^1:50 and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

^1:53 The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

^1:54 He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy

^1:6 A man came, sent by God. His name was John.

^1:7 He came as a witness, as a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him.

^1:8 He was not the light, only a witness to speak for the light.

^1:19 This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews[*c] sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’

^1:20 he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ’.

^1:21 ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?'[*d] ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the Prophet?'[*e] He answered, ‘No’.

^1:22 So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’

^1:23 So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied: a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord’.[*f]

^1:24 Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees,

^1:25 and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’

^1:26 John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you –

^1:27 the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap’.

^1:28 This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.