FIRST
READING: Ezekiel
16: 1 - 15, 60, 63 Or
Ezekiel 16:
59 - 63
1
Again the word of the LORD came to me:
2
"Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations,
3
and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your origin and your
birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite,
and your mother a Hittite.
4
And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel string was
not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed
with salt, nor swathed with bands.
5
No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion
for you; but you were cast out on the open field, for you were
abhorred, on the day that you were born.
6
"And when I passed by you, and saw you weltering in your blood,
I said to you in your blood, `Live,
7
and grow up like a plant of the field.' And you grew up and became
tall and arrived at full maidenhood; your breasts were formed, and
your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
8
"When I passed by you again and looked upon you, behold, you
were at the age for love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered
your nakedness: yea, I plighted my troth to you and entered into a
covenant with you, says the Lord GOD, and you became mine.
9
Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you, and
anointed you with oil.
10
I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with leather,
I swathed you in fine linen and covered you with silk.
11
And I decked you with ornaments, and put bracelets on your arms, and
a chain on your neck.
12
And I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a
beautiful crown upon your head.
13
Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your raiment was of
fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth; you ate fine flour and
honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful, and came to regal
estate.
14
And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty,
for it was perfect through the splendor which I had bestowed upon
you, says the Lord GOD.
15
"But you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot because
of your renown, and lavished your harlotries on any passer-by.
60
yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth,
and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.
63
that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth
again because of your shame, when I forgive you all that you have
done, says the Lord GOD."
Or
59
"Yea, thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have
done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant,
60
yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth,
and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.
61
Then you will remember your ways, and be ashamed when I take your
sisters, both your elder and your younger, and give them to you as
daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you.
62
I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am
the LORD,
63
that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth
again because of your shame, when I forgive you all that you have
done, says the Lord GOD."
PSALM:
Isaiah 12:
2 - 6
2
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be
afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has
become my salvation."
3
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4
And you will say in that day: "Give thanks to the LORD, call
upon his name; make known his deeds among the nations, proclaim that
his name is exalted.
5
"Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this
be known in all the earth.
6
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your
midst is the Holy One of Israel."
GOSPEL:
Matthew 19:
3 - 12
3
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it
lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?"
4
He answered, "Have you not read that he who made them from the
beginning made them male and female,
5
and said, `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
6
So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has
joined together, let not man put asunder."
7
They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a
certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"
8
He said to them, "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you
to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
9
And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity,
and marries another, commits adultery."
10
The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with
his wife, it is not expedient to marry."
11
But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this saying, but
only those to whom it is given.
12
For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are
eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who
have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
He who is able to receive this, let him receive it."
