FIRST
READING: 2 Chronicles 24:
17 - 25
17
Now after the death of Jehoi'ada the princes of Judah came and did
obeisance to the king; then the king hearkened to them.
18
And they forsook the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and
served the Ashe'rim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and
Jerusalem for this their guilt.
19
Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD; these
testified against them, but they would not give heed.
20
Then the Spirit of God took possession of Zechari'ah the son of
Jehoi'ada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to
them, "Thus says God, `Why do you transgress the commandments of
the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the
LORD, he has forsaken you.'"
21
But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they
stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.
22
Thus Jo'ash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoi'ada,
Zechari'ah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he
was dying, he said, "May the LORD see and avenge!"
23
At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against
Jo'ash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the
princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil
to the king of Damascus.
24
Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the LORD
delivered into their hand a very great army, because they had
forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed
judgment on Jo'ash.
25
When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his
servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of
Jehoi'ada the priest, and slew him on his bed. So he died; and they
buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the
tombs of the kings.
PSALM:
Psalms 89: 4 - 5, 29 - 34
4
`I will establish your descendants for ever, and build your throne
for all generations.'" [Selah]
5
Let the heavens praise thy wonders, O LORD, thy faithfulness in the
assembly of the holy ones!
29
I will establish his line for ever and his throne as the days of the
heavens.
30
If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my
ordinances,
31
if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,
32
then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their
iniquity with scourges;
33
but I will not remove from him my steadfast love, or be false to my
faithfulness.
34
I will not violate my covenant, or alter the word that went forth
from my lips.
GOSPEL:
Matthew 6: 24 - 34
24
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one
and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
25
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what
you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you
shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothing?
26
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather
into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of
more value than they?
27
And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of
life?
28
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin;
29
yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these.
30
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive
and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe
you, O men of little faith?
31
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What
shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?'
32
For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father
knows that you need them all.
33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
things shall be yours as well.
34
"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for
the day.
