FIRST
READING: Deuteronomy
30: 15 - 20
15
"See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and
evil.
16
If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you
this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by
keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then
you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in
the land which you are entering to take possession of it.
17
But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn
away to worship other gods and serve them,
18
I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live
long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and
possess.
19
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have
set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose
life, that you and your descendants may live,
20
loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for
that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the
land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and
to Jacob, to give them."
PSALM:
Psalms 1:
1 - 4, 6
1
Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
2
But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall
meditate day and night.
3
And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters,
which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall
not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.
4
Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth
from the face of the earth.
6
For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked
shall perish.
GOSPEL:
Luke 9:
22 - 25
22
saying, "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected
by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on
the third day be raised."
23
And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
24
For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his
life for my sake, he will save it.
25
For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses
or forfeits himself?
