FIRST
READING: 1 John
3: 22 -- 4:
1 - 6
22
and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his
commandments and do what pleases him.
23
And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of
his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded
us.
24
All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by
this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given
us.
1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into
the world.
2
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3
and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is
the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and
now it is in the world already.
4
Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who
is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5
They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and
the world listens to them.
6
We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of
God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and
the spirit of error.
PSALM:
Psalms 2:
7 - 8, 10 - 12
7
I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are
my son, today I have begotten you.
8
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of
the earth your possession.
10
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11
Serve the LORD with fear, with trembling
12
kiss his feet, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way; for his
wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
GOSPEL:
Matthew 4:
12 - 17, 23 - 25
12
Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into
Galilee;
13
and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in
the territory of Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali,
14
that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15
"The land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, toward the sea,
across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles --
16
the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those
who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
17
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand."
23
And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and
preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and
every infirmity among the people.
24
So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the
sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs,
epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.
25
And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decap'olis and
Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.
