1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10
Psalms 149:1-6, 9
Matthew 23:13-22
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10
(1) Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (2) Grace and peace to you. We give thanks to God always for all of you, keeping the memory of you in our prayers without ceasing (3) remembering your work of faith, and hardship, and charity, and enduring hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ, before God our Father (4) For we know, brothers, beloved of God, of your election (5) For our Gospel has not been among you in word alone, but also in virtue, and in the Holy Spirit, and with a great fullness, in the same manner as you know we have acted among you for your sake (8) For from you, the Word of the Lord was spread, not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith, which is toward God, has advanced so much so that we do not need to speak to you about anything (9) For others are reporting among us of the kind of acceptance we had among you, and how you were converted from idols to God, to the service of the living and true God (10) and to the expectation of his Son from heaven (whom he raised up from the dead), Jesus, who has rescued us from the approaching wrath
Psalms 149:1-6, 9
(1) Alleluia. Sing to the Lord a new song. His praise is in the Church of the saints (2) Let Israel rejoice in him who made them, and let the sons of Zion exult in their king (3) Let them praise his name in chorus. Let them sing psalms to him with the timbrel and the psaltery (4) For the Lord is well pleased with his people, and he will exalt the meek unto salvation (5) The saints will exult in glory. They will rejoice upon their couches (6) The exultations of God will be in their throat, and two-edged swords will be in their hands (9) to obtain judgment over them, as it has been written. This is glory for all his saints. Alleluia
Matthew 23:13-22
(13) So then: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you close the kingdom of heaven before men. For you yourselves do not enter, and those who are entering, you would not permit to enter (14) Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you consume the houses of widows, praying long prayers. Because of this, you shall receive the greater judgment (15) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and by land, in order to make one convert. And when he has been converted, you make him twice the son of Hell that you are yourselves (16) Woe to you, blind guides, who say: ‘Whoever will have sworn by the temple, it is nothing. But whoever will have sworn by the gold of the temple is obligated. (17) You are foolish and blind! For which is greater: the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold (18) And you say: ‘Whoever will have sworn by the altar, it is nothing. But whoever will have sworn by the gift that is on the altar is obligated. (19) How blind you are! For which is greater: the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift (20) Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all that is on it (21) And whoever will have sworn by the temple, swears by it, and by him who dwells in it (22) And whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it
