Daily Mass and Readings

4The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him that is weary. Morning by morning he wakens, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. 5The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not backward. 6I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7For the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been confounded; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

7All who see me mock at me, they make mouths at me, they wag their heads; 8"He committed his cause to the LORD; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, for he delights in him!" 16Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet -- 17I can count all my bones -- they stare and gloat over me; 18they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots. 19But thou, O LORD, be not far off! O thou my help, hasten to my aid! 22I will tell of thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee: 23You who fear the LORD, praise him! all you sons of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel!

6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

14 1It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him; 2for they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people." 3And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, "Why was the ointment thus wasted? 5For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor." And they reproached her. 6But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. 8She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. 9And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her." 10Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11And when they heard it they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. 12And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?" 13And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, 14and wherever he enters, say to the householder, `The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?' 15And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us." 16And the disciples set out and went to the city, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the passover. 17And when it was evening he came with the twelve. 18And as they were at table eating, Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." 19They began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one after another, "Is it I?" 20He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21For the Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." 22And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." 23And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." 26And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away; for it is written, `I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' 28But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." 29Peter said to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not." 30And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." 31But he said vehemently, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you." And they all said the same. 32And they went to a place which was called Gethsem'ane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I pray." 33And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch." 35And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt." 37And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 39And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer him. 41And he came the third time, and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand." 43And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him and lead him away under guard." 45And when he came, he went up to him at once, and said, "Master!" And he kissed him. 46And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled." 50And they all forsook him, and fled. 51And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, 52but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. 53And they led Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes were assembled. 54And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, and warming himself at the fire. 55Now the chief priests and the whole council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. 56For many bore false witness against him, and their witness did not agree. 57And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58"We heard him say, `I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'" 59Yet not even so did their testimony agree. 60And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" 61But he was silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" 62And Jesus said, "I am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." 63And the high priest tore his garments, and said, "Why do we still need witnesses? 64You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?" And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to strike him, saying to him, "Prophesy!" And the guards received him with blows. 66And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the maids of the high priest came; 67and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him, and said, "You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus." 68But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you mean." And he went out into the gateway. 69And the maid saw him, and began again to say to the bystanders, "This man is one of them." 70But again he denied it. And after a little while again the bystanders said to Peter, "Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean." 71But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know this man of whom you speak." 72And immediately the cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and wept. 15 1And as soon as it was morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him to Pilate. 2And Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And he answered him, "You have said so." 3And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4And Pilate again asked him, "Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you." 5But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate wondered. 6Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barab'bas. 8And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he was wont to do for them. 9And he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" 10For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barab'bas instead. 12And Pilate again said to them, "Then what shall I do with the man whom you call the King of the Jews?" 13And they cried out again, "Crucify him." 14And Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him." 15So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barab'bas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 16And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the praetorium); and they called together the whole battalion. 17And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him. 18And they began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19And they struck his head with a reed, and spat upon him, and they knelt down in homage to him. 20And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 21And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyre'ne, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22And they brought him to the place called Gol'gotha (which means the place of a skull). 23And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24And they crucified him, and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25And it was the third hour, when they crucified him. 26And the inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." 27And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30save yourself, and come down from the cross!" 31So also the chief priests mocked him to one another with the scribes, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. 33And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "E'lo-i, E'lo-i, la'ma sabach-tha'ni?" which means, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 35And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "Behold, he is calling Eli'jah." 36And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Eli'jah will come to take him down." 37And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. 38And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" 40There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Mag'dalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salo'me, 41who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered to him; and also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. 42And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, 43Joseph of Arimathe'a, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44And Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. 46And he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47Mary Mag'dalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.