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

May 4

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

The Lectionary According to the Common Calendar

Psalm 108

1 O God, my heart is fixed;
I will sing and give praise, even with my inmost being.
2 Awake, psaltery and harp!
I myself will awake early.
3 I will praise Thee, O LORD, among the people,
and I will sing praises unto Thee among the nations.
4 For Thy mercy is great above the heavens,
and Thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
5 Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and Thy glory above all the earth.
6 That Thy beloved may be delivered,
save with Thy right hand, and answer me.

7 God hath spoken in His holiness: "I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem,
and mete out the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the strength of Mine head;
Judah is My lawgiver.
9 Moab is My washpot;
over Edom will I cast My shoe;
over Philistia will I triumph."

10 Who will bring me into the stronghold city?
Who will lead me into Edom?
11 Wilt not Thou, O God, who hast cast us off?
And wilt not Thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
12 Give us help from trouble,
for vain is the help of man.
13 Through God we shall do valiantly,
for He it is that shall tread down our enemies.

Mark 6:30-44 

30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 31 And He said unto them, 

"Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while." 

For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure, even so much as to eat. 32 And they departed into a desert place by boat privately. 33 And the people saw them departing, and many recognized Him and ran thither on foot out of all the cities and outdistanced them, and came together unto Him. 34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw many people and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. 

35 And when the day was now far spent, His disciples came unto Him and said, "This is a desert place, and now the day is far spent. 36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about and into the villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat." 37 He answered and said unto them, 

"Give ye them to eat."

 And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread and give them to eat?" 38 He said unto them, 

"How many loaves have ye? Go and see." 

And when they knew, they said, "Five, and two fishes." 39 And He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. 40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, He looked up to Heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and He divided the two fishes among them all. 42 And they all ate and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments and of the fishes. 44 And those who ate of the loaves were about five thousand men.

1 Corinthians 16:1-12 

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: As I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 2 Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay aside in store as God hath prospered him, so that there need be no gatherings when I come. 3 And when I come, whomever ye shall approve by your letters I will send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. 4 And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me. 

5 Now I will come unto you when I shall pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia). 6 And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may send me on my journey whithersoever I go. 7 For I will not see you now on my way, but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. 8 But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great door, and effectual, has opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. 

10 Now if Timothy come, see that he may be with you without fear, for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. 11 Let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me; for I look for him with the brethren. 

12 Now concerning our brother Apollos: I greatly desired that he should come unto you with the brethren, but it was not at all his will to come at this time; but he will come when it shall be convenient. 

1 Samuel 14:1-16

1 Now it came to pass upon a day that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said unto the young man who bore his armor, "Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side." But he told not his father. 2 And Saul tarried in the outermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. And the people who were with him were about six hundred men, 3 and Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD'S priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. 4 And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side; and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5 The forefront of the one was situated northward over against Michmash and the other southward over against Gibeah.

6 And Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few." 7 And his armorbearer said unto him, "Do all that is in thine heart. Turn thee; behold, I am with thee, according to thy heart." 8 Then said Jonathan, "Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will disclose ourselves unto them. 9 If they say thus unto us, `Tarry until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place and will not go up unto them. 10 But if they say thus, `Come up unto us,' then we will go up; for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand, and this shall be a sign unto us." 11 And both of them revealed themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines; and the Philistines said, "Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves." 12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, "Come up to us, and we will show you a thing." And Jonathan said unto his armorbearer, "Come up after me, for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel." 13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armorbearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armorbearer slew after him. 14 And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within, as it were, a half acre of land which a yoke of oxen might plow. 15 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the despoilers also trembled, and the earth quaked; so it was a very great trembling.

16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.

Words of Wisdom - Proverbs 13:18

Poverty and shame shall be with him that refuseth instruction, 
but he that hath regard for reproof shall be honored.