Daily Readings

The LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he came to him,Nathan said: “Judge this case for me!In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor.The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers.But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb that he had bought.He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children.She shared the little food he had and drank from his cup and slept in his bosom.She was like a daughter to him.Now, the rich man received a visitor, but he would not take from his own flocks and herds to prepare a meal for the wayfarer who had come to him.Instead he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and made a meal of it for his visitor.”David grew very angry with that man and said to him: “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this merits death!He shall restore the ewe lamb fourfold because he has done this and has had no pity.”Then Nathan said to David:  “You are the man!Thus says the LORD God of Israel:‘The sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah to be your wife.’Thus says the LORD:‘I will bring evil upon you out of your own house.I will take your wives while you live to see it, and will give them to your neighbor.He shall lie with your wives in broad daylight.You have done this deed in secret, but I will bring it about in the presence of all Israel, and with the sun looking down.’”Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”Nathan answered David: “The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin:you shall not die.But since you have utterly spurned the LORD by this deed, the child born to you must surely die.”Then Nathan returned to his house.The LORD struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David, and it became desperately ill.David besought God for the child.He kept a fast, retiring for the night to lie on the ground clothed in sackcloth.The elders of his house stood beside him urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor would he take food with them.

R.        (12a)  Create a clean heart in me, O God.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.        Create a clean heart in me, O God.Give me back the joy of your salvation,            and a willing spirit sustain in me.I will teach transgressors your ways,            and sinners shall return to you.R.        Create a clean heart in me, O God.Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;            then my tongue shall revel in your justice.O Lord, open my lips,            and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.R.        Create a clean heart in me, O God.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:“Let us cross to the other side.”Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.And other boats were with him.A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,so that it was already filling up.Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.They woke him and said to him,“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”He woke up,rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet!  Be still!”The wind ceased and there was great calm.Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?Do you not yet have faith?”They were filled with great awe and said to one another,“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign,David sent out Joab along with his officersand the army of Israel,and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.David, however, remained in Jerusalem.One evening David rose from his siestaand strolled about on the roof of the palace.From the roof he saw a woman bathing, who was very beautiful.David had inquiries made about the woman and was told,“She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam,and wife of Joab’s armor bearer Uriah the Hittite.”Then David sent messengers and took her.When she came to him, he had relations with her.She then returned to her house.But the woman had conceived,and sent the information to David, “I am with child.”

David therefore sent a message to Joab,“Send me Uriah the Hittite.”So Joab sent Uriah to David.When he came, David questioned him about Joab, the soldiers,and how the war was going, and Uriah answered that all was well.David then said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and bathe your feet.”  Uriah left the palace,and a portion was sent out after him from the king’s table.But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palacewith the other officers of his lord, and did not go downto his own house.David was told that Uriah had not gone home.On the day following, David summoned him,and he ate and drank with David, who made him drunk.But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his bedamong his lord’s servants, and did not go down to his home.The next morning David wrote a letter to Joabwhich he sent by Uriah.In it he directed:“Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce.Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead.”So while Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriahto a place where he knew the defenders were strong.When the men of the city made a sortie against Joab,some officers of David’s army fell,and among them Uriah the Hittite died.

R.    (see 3a)  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.Thoroughly wash me from my guiltand of my sin cleanse me.R.    Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.For I acknowledge my offense,and my sin is before me always:“Against you only have I sinned,and done what is evil in your sight.”R.    Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.I have done such evil in your sightthat you are just in your sentence,blameless when you condemn.True, I was born guilty,a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.R.    Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;the bones you have crushed shall rejoice.Turn away your face from my sins,and blot out all my guilt.R.    Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to the crowds:“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the landand would sleep and rise night and dayand the seed would sprout and grow,he knows not how.Of its own accord the land yields fruit,first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,for the harvest has come.”

He said,“To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God,or what parable can we use for it?It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plantsand puts forth large branches,so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”With many such parableshe spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.Without parables he did not speak to them,but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

After Nathan had spoken to King David, the king went in and sat before the LORD and said, “Who am I, Lord GOD, and who are the members of my house, that you have brought me to this point?Yet even this you see as too little, Lord GOD; you have also spoken of the house of your servant for a long time to come: this too you have shown to man, Lord GOD!“You have established for yourself your people Israel as yours forever, and you, LORD, have become their God.And now, LORD God, confirm for all time the prophecy you have made concerning your servant and his house, and do as you have promised.Your name will be forever great, when men say, ‘The LORD of hosts is God of Israel,’and the house of your servant David stands firm before you.It is you, LORD of hosts, God of Israel, who said in a revelation to your servant, ‘I will build a house for you.’Therefore your servant now finds the courage to make this prayer to you.And now, Lord GOD, you are God and your words are truth; you have made this generous promise to your servant.Do, then, bless the house of your servant that it may be before you forever; for you, Lord GOD, have promised, and by your blessing the house of your servant shall be blessed forever.”

R.        (Lk 1:32b)  The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.LORD, remember David            and all his anxious care;How he swore an oath to the LORD,            vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob.R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.“I will not enter the house where I live,            nor lie on the couch where I sleep;I will give my eyes no sleep,            my eyelids no rest,Till I find a home for the LORD,            a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.The LORD swore an oath to David            a firm promise from which he will not withdraw:“Your own offspring             I will set upon your throne.”R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.“If your sons keep my covenant,            and the decrees which I shall teach them,Their sons, too, forever            shall sit upon your throne.”R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father.For the LORD has chosen Zion,            he prefers her for his dwelling:“Zion is my resting place forever;            in her I will dwell, for I prefer her.”R.        The Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.A lamp to my feet is your word,a light to my path.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples,“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basketor under a bed,and not to be placed on a lampstand?For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.”He also told them, “Take care what you hear.The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you.To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”