Readings: Tuesday, July 15, 2014

First Reading: Is 7:1-9

In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah,
Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah,
went up to attack Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer
it. When word came to the house of David that Aram was
encamped in Ephraim, the heart of the king and the heart of the
people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and
your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper
pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field, and say to him: Take
care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage
fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands the blazing
anger of Rezin and the Arameans, and of the son Remaliah,
because of the mischief that Aram, Ephraim and the son of
Remaliah, plots against you, saying, “Let us go up and tear
Judah asunder, make it our own by force, and appoint the son
of Tabeel king there.” 

Thus says the LORD:
This shall not stand, it shall not be!
Damascus is the capital of Aram,
and Rezin is the head of Damascus;
Samaria is the capital of Ephraim,
and Remaliah’s son the head of Samaria.
But within sixty years and five,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 48:2-3,3-4,5-6,7-8

R./ God upholds his city for ever.

Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R./ God upholds his city for ever.

Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R./ God upholds his city for ever.

For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed..
R./ God upholds his city for ever.

Quaking seizes them there;
anguish, like a woman’s in labor,
As though a wind from the east
were shattering ships of Tarshish.
R./ God upholds his city for ever.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 11:20-24

Jesus began to reproach the towns 
          where most of his mighty deeds had been done, 
          since they had not repented. 
"Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida! 
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst 
          had been done in Tyre and Sidon, 
          they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. 
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable 
          for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 
And as for you, Capernaum: 
          Will you be exalted to heaven? 
                    You will go down to the nether world. 
  
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, 
          it would have remained until this day. 
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable 
          for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."