Daily Readings

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.”

That night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:"Go, tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD:Should you build me a house to dwell in?I have not dwelt in a house from the day on which I led the children of Israel out of Egypt to the present, but I have been going about in a tent under cloth.In all my wanderings everywhere among the children of Israel, did I ever utter a word to any one of the judges whom I charged to tend my people Israel, to ask: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'"Now then, speak thus to my servant David, 'The LORD of hosts has this to say: It was I who took you from the pastureand from the care of the flockto be commander of my people Israel.I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth.I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their placewithout further disturbance.Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old, since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.I will give you rest from all your enemies.The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you.And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his Kingdom firm.It is he who shall build a house for my name.And I will make his royal throne firm forever.I will be a father to him,and he shall be a son to me.And if he does wrong, I will correct him with the rod of menand with human chastisements; but I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from your predecessor Saul, whom I removed from my presence.Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'"Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David. 

R. (29a) For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;I have sworn to David my servant:I will make your dynasty stand foreverand establish your throne through all ages.”R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant. “He shall cry to me, ‘You are my father,my God, the Rock that brings me victory!’I myself make him firstborn,Most High over the kings of the earth.”R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.“Forever I will maintain my love for him;my covenant with him stands firm.I will establish his dynasty forever,his throne as the days of the heavens.”R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant. 

R.  Alleluia, alleluia.The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;all who come to him will live forever.R.  Alleluia, alleluia. 

On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea.A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down.And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, "Hear this! A sower went out to sow.And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil.It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain.And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."He added, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables.He answered them, "The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.But to those outside everything comes in parables, so thatthey may look and see but not perceive,and hear and listen but not understand,in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven."Jesus said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?Then how will you understand any of the parables?The sower sows the word.These are the ones on the path where the word is sown.As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them.And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.But they have no roots; they last only for a time.Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.Those sown among thorns are another sort.They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit.But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept itand bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."