FIRST
READING: Hosea 14:
2 - 10
2
Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, "Take
away all iniquity; accept that which is good and we will render the
fruit of our lips.
3
Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses; and we will
say no more, `Our God,' to the work of our hands. In thee the orphan
finds mercy."
4
I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, for my
anger has turned from them.
5
I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, he
shall strike root as the poplar;
6
his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and
his fragrance like Lebanon.
7
They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as
a garden; they shall blossom as the vine, their fragrance shall be
like the wine of Lebanon.
8
O E'phraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look
after you. I am like an evergreen cypress, from me comes your fruit.
9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is
discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right,
and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.
PSALM:
Psalm 51: 3 - 4, 8 - 9. 12 -
14, 17
3
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil
in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and
blameless in thy judgment.
8
Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken
rejoice.
9
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
12
Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing
spirit.
13
Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to
thee.
14
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and
my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.
17
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
GOSPEL:
Matthew 10: 16 - 23
16
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be
wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
17
Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you
in their synagogues,
18
and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to
bear testimony before them and the Gentiles.
19
When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or
what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in
that hour;
20
for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking
through you.
21
Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child,
and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;
22
and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures
to the end will be saved.
23
When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly, I
say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel,
before the Son of man comes.
