Readings

Entrance Antiphon:

He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon.
2 Kings 23:11,13

A reading from the Second Book of Samuel:

Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him:

“There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan,

“As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David,

“You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel:
‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah.
And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!
Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?
You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword;
you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.
Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
Thus says the Lord:
‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house;
dand I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
For you did it secretly,
but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’”
2 Samuel 12:1-18

A Psalm, from the Psalms:

Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
Psalms 50:1-4

A reading, from St Paul’s Letter to Titus

To Titus, a true son in our common faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of incorrigibility or insubordination. For an overseer must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
Titus 1:4-9

Alleluiah, Alleluiah

The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall open, and no one shall shut; And he shall shut, and no one shall open.
Isaiah 22:22

Alleluiah, Alleluiah

A reading, from the Gospel According to Luke:

Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them,

“The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’

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