Scripture Reading for the
Common Calendar Year
(beginning January 1st)

April 18

Text taken from the
Third Millennium Bible^® (TMB^®)
(New Authorized Version^TM NAV^TM)

The Lectionary According to the Common Calendar

Psalm 96

1 O sing unto the LORD a new song;
sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing unto the LORD, bless His name;
show forth His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the heathen,
His wonders among all people.
4 For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

7 Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people;
give unto the LORD glory and strength.
8 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His name;
bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness;
fear before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the heathen
that the LORD reigneth;
the world also shall be established, that it shall not be moved;
He shall judge the people righteously.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein;
then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
13 before the LORD.
For He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth;
He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.

Mark 2:1-12

1 And again He entered into Capernaum some days later, and it was reported that He was in the house. 2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not even about the door; and He preached the Word unto them. 3 And they came unto Him, bringing one sick with the palsy, who was borne by four. 4 And when they could not come nigh unto Him because of the throng, they uncovered the roof where He was. And when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the one sick with the palsy lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the one sick with the palsy,

"Son, thy sins are forgiven thee."

6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?" 8 And immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said unto them,

"Why reason ye these things in your hearts: 9 whether it is easier to say to the sick with the palsy, `Thy sins are forgiven thee,' or to say, `Arise, and take up thy bed and walk'? 10 But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins--"

He said to the one sick with the palsy,

11 "I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house."

12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw it in this fashion!"

1 Corinthians 10:1-14

1 Moreover, brethren, I would not have ye ignorant of how all of our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 And all ate the same spiritual meat, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed -- and three and twenty thousand fell in one day. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted -- and were destroyed by serpents. 10 Neither should ye murmur, as some of them also murmured -- and were destroyed by the destroyer.

11 Now all these things happened unto them by way of example, and are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Therefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. 13 There hath no temptation taken hold of you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful; He will not suffer you to be tempted beyond that which ye are able to bear, but with the temptation will also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

14 Therefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 

Judges 16:15-31

15 And she said unto him, "How canst thou say, `I love thee,' when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth." 16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death, 17 that he told her all his heart and said unto her, "There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man."

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he hath shown me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money in their hand. 19 And she made him sleep upon her knees. And she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20 And she said, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he awoke out of his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself." And he knew not that the LORD had departed from him. 21 But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grinding in the prison house. 22 However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god and to rejoice, for they said, "Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand!" 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, "Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country who slew many of us." 25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, "Call for Samson, that he may make sport for us." And they called for Samson out of the prison house, and they made sport of him and they set him between the pillars. 26 And Samson said unto the lad who held him by the hand, "Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them."

27 Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women who beheld while they made sport of Samson. 28 And Samson called unto the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray Thee, and strengthen me, I pray Thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes." 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and on which it was borne up, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people who were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than those whom he slew in his life.

31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

Judges 21:25

25 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Words of Wisdom - Ecclesiastes 5:13-15

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. But those riches perish by evil travail; and when he begetteth a son, there is nothing in his hand.

As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came,
and shall take nothing of his labor which he may carry away in his hand.