Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 122[a]
The Pilgrim’s Greeting to the Holy City
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
[b]I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2 And finally our feet are standing
at your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
that is firmly bound together[c] in unity.
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as it was decreed for Israel
to celebrate the name of the Lord.[d]
5 For there the thrones of judgment[e] were established,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace[f] of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you rest secure.
7 May there be peace within your walls
and security in your palaces.”
8 [g]Out of love for my relatives and friends,
I will say, “May peace be within you.”
9 Out of love for the house of the Lord, our God,
I will pray for your well-being.
11 But the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and filled with violence. 12 God saw that the earth was corrupt, for every person on the earth was perverse in what he did.
13 God therefore said to Noah, “I have decided to end everything, for they have filled the earth with their violence. Behold, I will destroy the entire creation. 14 Build an ark[a] of gopher wood and divide the ark into compartments and caulk it with bitumen inside and out. 15 This is how you shall make it: the ark will be three hundred cubits long, fifty wide, and thirty high. 16 Make a roof on the ark one cubit high.[b] Place a door in the side of the ark. Make it with three decks: lower, middle, and higher.
17 “Behold, I will send a flood. The waters shall cover the earth to destroy the life of everything under the skies that has the breath of life in it. Everything on the earth shall perish. 18 But I will establish a covenant with you.
“Go into the ark, you and your sons, your wife, and the wives of your sons. 19 Bring into the ark two of everything that lives, of all flesh. Bring a male and female of each species into the ark to save them. 20 Bring two birds of each species, two animals of each species, and two reptiles of each species with you to save them. 21 As for you, gather every type of food and take it with you. It shall nourish both you and them.”
22 Noah did all of this, exactly as God had commanded him.
Instructions for the Coming of the Kingdom[a]
Chapter 24
The Time of the End[b]
Jesus Announces the Destruction of the Temple.[c] 1 As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the buildings of the temple. 2 He thereupon said to them, “Do you see all these? Amen, I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another; every one will be thrown down.”
The End Has Not Yet Come.[d] 3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached and spoke to him when they were alone. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered them, “Take care that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Do not be alarmed, for those things are bound to happen, but the end is still to come. 7 For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are only the beginning of the labor pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be tortured and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10 At that time, many will fall away from the faith; they will betray and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will appear and lead many astray, 12 and with the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But whoever endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the entire world as a testimony offered to all the nations. And then the end will come.
15 The Great Trial.[e]“Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, about which the prophet Daniel spoke, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, 17 the one who is standing on the roof must not come down to collect what is in his house, 18 and someone who is in the field must not turn back to retrieve his coat.
19 “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that you will not have to take flight in the winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great suffering that has not been equaled since the beginning of the world until now, and will never again be duplicated. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they will be shortened.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.