FIRST
READING: 2
Kings 24: 8 - 17
8
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he succeeded his father, and
he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta,
daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9
Jehoiachin treated Yahweh badly, as his father had done.
10
At that time, the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came
to attack Jerusalem, surrounding the city.
11
Nebuchadnezzar came while the city was being besieged by his men.
12
Jehoiachin, king of Judah, surrendered together with his mother, his
servants, his leaders and the palace officials. It was the eighth
year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
13
Nebuchadnezzar captured them and he took away the treasures of the
House of Yahweh and of the king's house. He also destroyed all the
objects of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made for the
sanctuary of Yahweh. So the word Yahweh had spoken, was fulfilled.
14
Nebuchadnezzar carried off into exile all the leaders and prominent
men, the blacksmiths and locksmiths, all the men of valor fit for
war. A total of ten thousand were exiled to Babylon. Only the poorest
sector of the population was left.
15
Nebuchaddnezzar also carried away Jehoiachin, with his mother, his
wives, the ministers of the palace, and the prominent men of the
land.
16
So all the prominent people, numbering seven thousand, the
blacksmiths, numbering a thousand, and all the men fit for war were
deported to Babylon by the king of Babylon.
17
He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king of Jerusalem, in place of
Jehoiachin. And he changed his name to Zedekiah.
PSALM:
Psalms 79:
1 - 5, 8 - 9
1
O God, the pagans have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled
your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2
They have given your servants' corpses to the birds, and the flesh of
your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3
They have poured out the blood of your faithful like water around
Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
4
Mocked and reviled by those around us, we are scorned by our
neighbors.
5
How long will this last, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your
wrath always burn to avenge your rights?
8
Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let your
compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.
9
Help us, God, our savior, for the glory of your name; forgive us for
the sake of your name.
GOSPEL:
Matthew 7:
21 - 29
21
Not everyone who says to me: Lord! Lord! will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but the one who does the will of my heavenly Father.
22
Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not speak
in your name? Did we not cast out devils and perform many miracles in
your name?"
23
Then I will tell them openly: I have never known you; away from me,
you evil people!
24
"So, then, anyone who hears these words of mine and acts
accordingly is like a wise man, who built his house on rock.
25
The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck
that house, but it did not collapse because it was built on rock.
26
But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not act
accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand.
27
The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck
that house; it collapsed, and what a terrible fall that was!"
28
When Jesus had finished this discourse, the crowds were struck by the
way he taught,
29
because he taught with authority unlike their teachers of the Law.
