Daily Readings - 26/12/2026

^6:8 Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people.

^6:9 But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen,[*c] and others from Cilicia and Asia.

^6:10 They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said.

^7:54 They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.

^7:55 But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand.

^7:56 ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’

^7:57 At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him,

^7:58 sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses[*q] put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.

^7:59 As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’.

^30:1 High praise, Yahweh, I give you, for you have helped me up, and not let my enemies gloat over me.

^30:2 Yahweh, my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

^30:3 Yahweh, you have brought my soul up from Sheol, of all those who go down to the Pit you have revived me.

^30:4 Play music in Yahweh’s honour, you devout, remember his holiness, and praise him.

^30:5 His anger lasts a moment, his favour a lifetime; in the evening, a spell of tears, in the morning, shouts of joy.

^30:6 In my prosperity, I used to say, ‘Nothing can ever shake me!’

^30:7 Your favour, Yahweh, stood me on a peak impregnable; but then you hid your face and I was terrified.

^30:8 Yahweh, I call to you, I beg my God to pity me,

^30:9 ‘What do you gain by my blood[*a] if I go down to the Pit? Can the dust praise you or proclaim your faithfulness?

^30:10 ‘Hear, Yahweh, take pity on me; Yahweh, help me!’

^30:11 You have turned my mourning into dancing, you have stripped off my sackcloth and wrapped me in gladness

^30:12 and now my heart, silent no longer, will play you music; Yahweh, my God, I will praise you for ever.

^10:17 ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues.

^10:18 You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans.

^10:19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes;

^10:20 because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

^10:21 ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

^10:22 You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.

^3:2 for the Lord honours the father in his children, and upholds the rights of a mother over her sons.

^3:3 Whoever respects his father is atoning for his sins,

^3:4 he who honours his mother is like someone amassing a fortune.

^3:5 Whoever respects his father will be happy with children of his own, he shall be heard on the day when he prays.

^3:6 Long life comes to him who honours his father, he who sets his mother at ease is showing obedience to the Lord.

^3:12 My son, support your father in his old age, do not grieve him during his life.

^3:13 Even if his mind should fail, show him sympathy, do not despise him in your health and strength;

^3:14 for kindness to a father shall not be forgotten but will serve as reparation for your sins.

^127:1 If Yahweh does not build the house, in vain the masons toil; if Yahweh does not guard the city, in vain the sentries watch.

^127:2 In vain you get up earlier, and put off going to bed, sweating to make a living, since he provides for his beloved as they sleep.

^127:3 Sons are a bounty from Yahweh, he rewards with descendants:

^127:4 like the arrows in a hero’s hand are the sons you father when young.

^127:5 Happy the man who has filled his quiver with arrows of this sort; in dispute with his enemies at the gate,[*a] he will not be worsted.

^3:12 You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience.

^3:13 Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same.

^3:14 Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love.

^3:15 And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful.

^3:16 Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God;

^3:17 and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

^3:18 Wives, give way to your husbands, as you should in the Lord.

^3:19 Husbands, love your wives and treat them with gentleness.

^3:20 Children, be obedient to your parents always, because that is what will please the Lord.

^3:21 Parents, never drive your children to resentment or you will make them feel frustrated.

^2:22 And when the day came for them to be purified[*d] as laid down by the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord-

^2:23 observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord[*e]-

^2:24 and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons[*f]

^2:25 Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him.

^2:26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord[*g]

^2:27 Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required,

^2:28 he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

^2:29 ‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised;

^2:30 because my eyes have seen the salvation

^2:31 which you have prepared for all the nations to see,

^2:32 a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel’.

^2:33 As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him,

^2:34 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected-

^2:35 and a sword will pierce your own soul too-so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare’.

^2:36 There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years

^2:37 before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer.

^2:38 She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem[*h].

^2:39 When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

^2:40 Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.