Bible Readings for August 10-16, 2026

Let’s read the Bible together during the next year. For the week of Monday August 10 through Sunday, August 16, the daily readings are below.

• Monday, August 10, 2026 - Ezra 10:1-44, 1 Cor. 6:1-20, Psalm 31:9-18, Prov. 21:3
• Tuesday, August 11, 2026 - Neh. 1:1–3:14, 1 Cor. 7:1-24, Psalm 31:19-24, Prov. 21:4
• Wednesday, August 12, 2026 - Neh. 3:15–5:13, 1 Cor. 7:25-40, Psalm 32:1-11, Prov. 21:5-7
• Thursday, August 13, 2026 - Neh. 5:14–7:60, 1 Cor. 8:1-13, Psalm 33:1-11, Prov. 21:8-10
• Friday, August 14, 2026 - Neh. 7:61–9:21, 1 Cor. 9:1-18, Psalm 33:12-22, Prov. 21:11-12
• Saturday, August 15, 2026 - Neh. 9:22–10:39, 1 Cor. 9:19– 10:13, Psalm 34:1-10, Prov. 21:13
• Sunday, August 16, 2026 - Neh. 11:1–12:26, 1 Cor. 10:14– 11:2, Psalm 34:11-22, Prov. 21:14-16

What We Believe: The Faith of the Presbyterian Church (Why did Christ come?)

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: What We Believe: The Faith of the Presbyterian Chu...: At Sligo Presbyterian Church, we're discussing what Presbyterians believe and how Presbyterian congregations govern themselves. During t...

Bible Readings for August 7, 2026

Let's read the Bible together in the next year. Today, our passages are Ezra 3:1–4:24; 1 Corinthians 2:6–3:4; Psalm 28:1-9; and Proverbs 20:24-25. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

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Ezra 5-6:22 (The Message)

Ezra 5

 ^1-2Meanwhile the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo were preaching to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the authority of the God of Israel who ruled them. And so Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak started again, rebuilding The Temple of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were right there helping them.  ^3-4Tattenai was governor of the land beyond the Euphrates at this time. Tattenai, Shethar-Bozenai, and their associates came to the Israelites and asked, "Who issued you a permit to rebuild this Temple and restore it to use?" Then we told them the names of the men responsible for this construction work.
 ⁵ But God had his eye on the leaders of the Jews, and the work wasn't stopped until a report could reach Darius and an official reply be returned.
 ^6-7 Tattenai, governor of the land beyond the Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and his associates—the officials of that land—sent a letter to Darius the king. This is what they wrote to him:
    To Darius the king. Peace and blessing!
 ⁸ We want to report to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to The Temple of the great God that is being rebuilt with large stones. Timbers are being fitted into the walls; the work is going on with great energy and in good time.
 ^9-10 We asked the leaders, "Who issued you the permit to rebuild this Temple and restore it to use?" We also asked for their names so we could pass them on to you and have a record of the men at the head of the construction work.
 ^11-12 This is what they told us: "We are servants of the God of the heavens and the earth. We are rebuilding The Temple that was built a long time ago. A great king of Israel built it, the entire structure. But our ancestors made the God of the heavens really angry and he turned them over to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who knocked this Temple down and took the people to Babylon in exile.
 ^13-16 "But when Cyrus became king of Babylon, in his first year he issued a building permit to rebuild this Temple of God. He also gave back the gold and silver vessels of The Temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had carted off and put in the Babylon temple. Cyrus the king removed them from the temple of Babylon and turned them over to Sheshbazzar, the man he had appointed governor. He told him, 'Take these vessels and place them in The Temple of Jerusalem and rebuild The Temple of God on its original site.' And Sheshbazzar did it. He laid the foundation of The Temple of God in Jerusalem. It has been under construction ever since but it is not yet finished." ¹⁷ So now, if it please the king, look up the records in the royal archives in Babylon and see if it is indeed a fact that Cyrus the king issued an official building permit authorizing the rebuilding of The Temple of God in Jerusalem. And then send the king's ruling on this matter to us. 

Ezra 6

 ^1-3 So King Darius ordered a search through the records in the archives in Babylon. Eventually a scroll was turned up in the fortress of Ecbatana over in the province of Media, with this writing on it:
Memorandum     In his first year as king, Cyrus issued an official decree regarding The Temple of God in Jerusalem, as follows:
 ^3-5 The Temple where sacrifices are offered is to be rebuilt on new foundations. It is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide with three courses of large stones topped with one course of timber. The cost is to be paid from the royal bank. The gold and silver vessels from The Temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar carried to Babylon are to be returned to The Temple at Jerusalem, each to its proper place; place them in The Temple of God.
 ^6-7 Now listen, Tattenai governor of the land beyond the Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, associates, and all officials of that land: Stay out of their way. Leave the governor and leaders of the Jews alone so they can work on that Temple of God as they rebuild it.
 ^8-10 I hereby give official orders on how you are to help the leaders of the Jews in the rebuilding of that Temple of God:
   1.All construction costs are to be paid to these men from the royal bank out of the taxes coming in from the land beyond the Euphrates. And pay them on time, without delays.
   2.Whatever is required for their worship—young bulls, rams, and lambs for Whole-Burnt-Offerings to the God-of-Heaven; and whatever wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil the priests of Jerusalem request—is to be given to them daily without delay so that they may make sacrifices to the God-of-Heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
 ^11-12 I've issued an official decree that anyone who violates this order is to be impaled on a timber torn out of his own house, and the house itself made a manure pit. And may the God who put his Name on that place wipe out any king or people who dares to defy this decree and destroy The Temple of God at Jerusalem.
   I, Darius, have issued an official decree. Carry it out precisely and promptly.
 ¹³ Tattenai governor of the land across the Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their associates did it: They carried out the decree of Darius precisely and promptly. 

The Building Completed:

    "Exuberantly Celebrated the Dedication"
^14-15 So the leaders of the Jews continued to build; the work went well under the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. They completed the rebuilding under orders of the God of Israel and authorization by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.  ^16-18 And then the Israelites celebrated—priests, Levites, every last exile, exuberantly celebrated the dedication of The Temple of God. At the dedication of this Temple of God they sacrificed a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs—and, as an Absolution-Offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. They placed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their places for the service of God at Jerusalem—all as written out in the Book of Moses.

¹⁹ On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover.
 ²⁰ All the priests and Levites had purified themselves—all, no exceptions. They were all ritually clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for the exiles, their brother priests, and themselves.
 ^21-22 Then the Israelites who had returned from exile, along with everyone who had removed themselves from the defilements of the nations to join them and seek God, the God of Israel, ate the Passover. With great joy they celebrated the Feast of Unraised Bread for seven days. God had plunged them into a sea of joy; he had changed the mind of the king of Assyria to back them in rebuilding The Temple of God, the God of Israel.

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1 Corinthians 3:5-23 (The Message)

 ^5-9Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God's field in which we are working.
 ^9-15Or, to put it another way, you are God's house. Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you'll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won't get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn't, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won't be torn out; you'll survive—but just barely.
 ^16-17You realize, don't you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God's temple, you can be sure of that. God's temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple.
 ^18-20Don't fool yourself. Don't think that you can be wise merely by being up-to-date with the times. Be God's fool—that's the path to true wisdom. What the world calls smart, God calls stupid. It's written in Scripture,

   He exposes the chicanery of the chic.
   The Master sees through the smoke screens
      of the know-it-alls.
 ^21-23I don't want to hear any of you bragging about yourself or anyone else. Everything is already yours as a gift—Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, the future—all of it is yours, and you are privileged to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God.

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Psalm 29:1-11 (The Message)

Psalm 29

A David Psalm

 ^1-2 Bravo, God, bravo! Gods and all angels shout, "Encore!"
   In awe before the glory,
      in awe before God's visible power.
   Stand at attention!
      Dress your best to honor him!

 ³ God thunders across the waters,
   Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness—
   God, across the flood waters.

 ⁴ God's thunder tympanic,
   God's thunder symphonic.

 ⁵ God's thunder smashes cedars,
   God topples the northern cedars.

 ⁶ The mountain ranges skip like spring colts,
   The high ridges jump like wild kid goats.

 ^7-8 God's thunder spits fire.
   God thunders, the wilderness quakes;
   He makes the desert of Kadesh shake.

 ⁹ God's thunder sets the oak trees dancing
   A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches.
   We fall to our knees—we call out, "Glory!"

 ¹⁰ Above the floodwaters is God's throne
      from which his power flows,
      from which he rules the world.

 ¹¹ God makes his people strong.
   God gives his people peace.

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Proverbs 20:26-27 (The Message)

 ²⁶ After careful scrutiny, a wise leader
   makes a clean sweep of rebels and dolts.

 ²⁷ God is in charge of human life,
   watching and examining us inside and out.

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Thought for the Day

“The LORD is our judge and our ruler; the LORD is our king and will keep us safe.” (Isaiah 33:22 - Contemporary English Version)  God is truly our all in all. He offers us moral direction and spiritual strength. And when we feel lonely and afraid, he gives us the peace and confidence to live in the present and to move toward the future.

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Quote for the Day

American actor and entertainer, Stan Freberg wrote, "A lot of television stuff is mean-spirited, and I think that's how political advertising got so mean-spirited, to where people are throwing things at the television set every time we have an election."

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Joke for Today

John: "My grandpa is 98 years old, and he doesn't even use glasses."

Jack: "Wow, that is incredible!"

John: "Yep, he drinks straight from the bottle."

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A Prayer Request

As Christians, we can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Below is the need that we're laying before God today.

That all racial divisions be healed.

Daily Lectionary Readings for August 06, 2026

Daily Lectionary Readings (Two-Year Cycle)

Lectionary Readings for Thursday, August 6, 2026

Morning Psalm 116 1   I love the LORD, because he has heard           my voice and my supplications. 2   Because he inclined his ear to me,           therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 3   The snares of death encompassed me;           the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;           I suffered distress and anguish. 4   Then I called on the name of the LORD:           “O LORD, I pray, save my life!” 5   Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;           our God is merciful. 6   The LORD protects the simple;           when I was brought low, he saved me. 7   Return, O my soul, to your rest,           for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. 8   For you have delivered my soul from death,           my eyes from tears,           my feet from stumbling. 9   I walk before the LORD           in the land of the living. 10  I kept my faith, even when I said,           “I am greatly afflicted”; 11  I said in my consternation,           “Everyone is a liar.” 12  What shall I return to the LORD           for all his bounty to me? 13   I will lift up the cup of salvation           and call on the name of the LORD, 14  I will pay my vows to the LORD           in the presence of all his people. 15  Precious in the sight of the LORD           is the death of his faithful ones. 16  O LORD, I am your servant;           I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.           You have loosed my bonds. 17  I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice           and call on the name of the LORD. 18  I will pay my vows to the LORD           in the presence of all his people, 19  in the courts of the house of the LORD,           in your midst, O Jerusalem.      Praise the LORD! Morning Psalm 147:12-20 12  Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!           Praise your God, O Zion! 13  For he strengthens the bars of your gates;           he blesses your children within you. 14  He grants peace within your borders;           he fills you with the finest of wheat. 15  He sends out his command to the earth;           his word runs swiftly. 16  He gives snow like wool;           he scatters frost like ashes. 17  He hurls down hail like crumbs —           who can stand before his cold? 18  He sends out his word, and melts them;           he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 19  He declares his word to Jacob,           his statutes and ordinances to Israel. 20  He has not dealt thus with any other nation;           they do not know his ordinances.      Praise the Lord! First Reading Judges 8:22-35 22Then the Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian." 23Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you." 24Then Gideon said to them, "Let me make a request of you; each of you give me an earring he has taken as booty." (For the enemy had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25"We will willingly give them," they answered. So they spread a garment, and each threw into it an earring he had taken as booty. 26The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold (apart from the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the collars that were on the necks of their camels). 27Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his town, in Ophrah; and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. 28So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they lifted up their heads no more. So the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. 29Jerubbaal son of Joash went to live in his own house. 30Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. 31His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. 32Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals, making Baal-berith their god. 34The Israelites did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; 35and they did not exhibit loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. Second Reading Acts 4:1-12 1While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, 2much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. 3So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand. 5The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11This Jesus is 'the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.' 12There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved." Gospel Reading John 1:43-51 43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." 46Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" 48Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." 49Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." 51And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." Evening Psalm 26 1   Vindicate me, O LORD,           for I have walked in my integrity,           and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2   Prove me, O LORD, and try me;           test my heart and mind. 3   For your steadfast love is before my eyes,           and I walk in faithfulness to you. 4   I do not sit with the worthless,           nor do I consort with hypocrites; 5   I hate the company of evildoers,           and will not sit with the wicked. 6   I wash my hands in innocence,           and go around your altar, O LORD, 7   singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,           and telling all your wondrous deeds. 8   O LORD, I love the house in which you dwell,           and the place where your glory abides. 9   Do not sweep me away with sinners,           nor my life with the bloodthirsty, 10  those in whose hands are evil devices,           and whose right hands are full of bribes. 11  But as for me, I walk in my integrity;           redeem me, and be gracious to me. 12  My foot stands on level ground;           in the great congregation I will bless the LORD. Evening Psalm 130 1   Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. 2       Lord, hear my voice!      Let your ears be attentive           to the voice of my supplications! 3   If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,           Lord, who could stand? 4   But there is forgiveness with you,           so that you may be revered. 5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,           and in his word I hope; 6   my soul waits for the Lord           more than those who watch for the morning,           more than those who watch for the morning. 7   O Israel, hope in the LORD!           For with the LORD there is steadfast love,           and with him is great power to redeem. 8   It is he who will redeem Israel           from all its iniquities.

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