Daily Reading

Moses spoke to the people, saying:
“This day the LORD, your God,
commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.
Be careful, then,
to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:
he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways
and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,
and to hearken to his voice.
And today the LORD is making this agreement with you:
you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;
and provided you keep all his commandments,
he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory
above all other nations he has made,
and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God,
as he promised.”

R.        (1b)  Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
            who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
            who seek him with all their heart.
R.        Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
            be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
            of keeping your statutes!
R.        Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
I will give you thanks with an upright heart,
            when I have learned your just ordinances.
I will keep your statutes;
            do not utterly forsake me.
R.        Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Thus says the Lord GOD:
If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed,
if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just,
he shall surely live, he shall not die.
None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him;
he shall live because of the virtue he has practiced.
Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked?
says the Lord GOD.
Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way
that he may live?

And if the virtuous man turns from the path of virtue to do evil,
the same kind of abominable things that the wicked man does,
can he do this and still live?
None of his virtuous deeds shall be remembered,
because he has broken faith and committed sin;
because of this, he shall die.
You say, “The LORD’s way is not fair!”
Hear now, house of Israel:
Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?
When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies,
it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die.
But if the wicked, turning from the wickedness he has committed,
does what is right and just,
he shall preserve his life;
since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed,
he shall surely live, he shall not die.

R.        (3) If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
            LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
            to my voice in supplication.
R.        If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
            LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
            that you may be revered.
R.        If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
I trust in the LORD;
            my soul trusts in his word.
My soul waits for the LORD
            more than sentinels wait for the dawn.
            Let Israel wait for the LORD.
R.        If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
For with the LORD is kindness
            and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
            from all their iniquities.
R.        If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD,
and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you,
unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment,
and whoever says to his brother, Raqa,
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
 

Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.

“And now, come to help me, an orphan.
Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion
and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,
so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.
Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness.”

R.        (3a)  Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
            for you have heard the words of my mouth;
            in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
            and give thanks to your name.
R.        Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
            for you have made great above all things
            your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
            you built up strength within me.
R.        Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
            your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
            forsake not the work of your hands.
R.        Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
 

A clean heart create for me, O God;
give me back the joy of your salvation.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’s bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,”
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his nobles:
“Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,
shall taste anything;
they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath,
so that we shall not perish.”
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.

R.        (19b) A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
            in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
            and of my sin cleanse me.
R.        A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
            and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
            and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R.        A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
            should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
            a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R.        A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart
for I am gracious and merciful.

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heaven
            the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
            till they have watered the earth,
            making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
            and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
            that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
            but shall do my will,
            achieving the end for which I sent it.

R.        (18b)  From all their distress God rescues the just.
Glorify the LORD with me,
            let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
            and delivered me from all my fears.
R.        From all their distress God rescues the just.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
            and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
            and from all his distress he saved him.
R.        From all their distress God rescues the just.
The LORD has eyes for the just,
            and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
            to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R.        From all their distress God rescues the just.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
            and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
            and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R.        From all their distress God rescues the just.

One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This is how you are to pray:

            Our Father who art in heaven,
                        hallowed be thy name,
                        thy Kingdom come,
            thy will be done,
                        on earth as it is in heaven.
            Give us this day our daily bread;
            and forgive us our trespasses,
                        as we forgive those who trespass against us;
            and lead us not into temptation,
                        but deliver us from evil.

“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”