Daily Readings

In the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign,on the tenth day of the month,Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his whole armyadvanced against Jerusalem, encamped around it,and built siege walls on every side.The siege of the city continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah.On the ninth day of the fourth month,when famine had gripped the city,and the people had no more bread,the city walls were breached.Then the king and all the soldiers left the city by nightthrough the gate between the two wallsthat was near the king’s garden.Since the Chaldeans had the city surrounded,they went in the direction of the Arabah.But the Chaldean army pursued the kingand overtook him in the desert near Jericho,abandoned by his whole army.

The king was therefore arrested and brought to Riblahto the king of Babylon, who pronounced sentence on him.He had Zedekiah’s sons slain before his eyes.Then he blinded Zedekiah, bound him with fetters,and had him brought to Babylon.On the seventh day of the fifth month(this was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar,king of Babylon),Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard,came to Jerusalem as the representativeof the king of Babylon.He burned the house of the Lord,the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem;every large building was destroyed by fire.Then the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the guardtore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.

Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard,led into exile the last of the people remaining in the city,and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon,and the last of the artisans.But some of the country’s poor, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard,left behind as vinedressers and farmers.

R. (6ab)  Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!By the streams of Babylonwe sat and weptwhen we remembered Zion.On the aspens of that landwe hung up our harps.R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!Though there our captors asked of usthe lyrics of our songs,And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:“Sing for us the songs of Zion!”R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!How could we sing a song of the Lordin a foreign land?If I forget you, Jerusalem,may my right hand be forgotten!R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!May my tongue cleave to my palateif I remember you not,If I place not Jerusalemahead of my joy.R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Christ took away our infirmitiesand bore our diseases.R. Alleluia, alleluia.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,“I will do it.  Be made clean.”His leprosy was cleansed immediately.Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one,but go show yourself to the priest,and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;that will be proof for them.”

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign,and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta,daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.He did evil in the sight of the LORD,just as his forebears had done.At that time the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,attacked Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,himself arrived at the citywhile his servants were besieging it.Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother,his ministers, officers, and functionaries,surrendered to the king of Babylon, who,in the eighth year of his reign, took him captive.And he carried off all the treasuresof the temple of the LORD and those of the palace,and broke up all the gold utensils that Solomon, king of Israel,had provided in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had foretold.He deported all Jerusalem:all the officers and men of the army, ten thousand in number,and all the craftsmen and smiths.None were left among the people of the land except the poor.He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon,and also led captive from Jerusalem to Babylonthe king's mother and wives,his functionaries, and the chief men of the land.The king of Babylon also led captive to Babylonall seven thousand men of the army,and a thousand craftsmen and smiths,all of them trained soldiers.In place of Jehoiachin,the king of Babylon appointed his uncle Mattaniah king,and changed his name to Zedekiah. 

R. (9) For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;they have defiled your holy temple,they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.They have given the corpses of your servantsas food to the birds of heaven,the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth.R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.They have poured out their blood like waterround about Jerusalem,and there is no one to bury them.We have become the reproach of our neighbors,the scorn and derision of those around us.O LORD, how long? Will you be angry forever?Will your jealousy burn like fire?R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;may your compassion quickly come to us,for we are brought very low.R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.Help us, O God our savior,because of the glory of your name;Deliver us and pardon our sinsfor your name’s sake. R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.Whoever loves me will keep my word,and my Father will love himand we will come to him.R. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Jesus said to his disciples:“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’will enter the Kingdom of heaven,but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.Many will say to me on that day,‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?Did we not drive out demons in your name?Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’Then I will declare to them solemnly,‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on themwill be like a wise man who built his house on rock.The rain fell, the floods came,and the winds blew and buffeted the house.But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.And everyone who listens to these words of minebut does not act on themwill be like a fool who built his house on sand.The rain fell, the floods came,and the winds blew and buffeted the house.And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”When Jesus finished these words,the crowds were astonished at his teaching,for he taught them as one having authority,and not as their scribes.