Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time (II)

Official Translation

Reading 1 – 2 Kings 19.9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36

Sennacherib, king of Assyria,
sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,
‘Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah:
“Do not let your God in whom you trust
deceive you, saying,
Jerusalem will not be given
into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Behold, you have heard what
the kings of Assyria have done to all lands,
by destroying them utterly. Will you be delivered?

Hezekiah received the letter
from the hand of the messengers, and read it.
Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s house,
and spread it before the Lord.
Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said,
“O Lord, God of Israel, who sit above the cherubim,
you are the God, you alone,
of all the kingdoms of the earth.
You have made heaven and earth.
Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear.
Open your eyes, O Lord, and see.
Hear the words of Sennacherib,
which he has sent to defy the living God.
Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria
have laid waste the nations and their lands,
and have cast their gods into the fire;
for they were no gods,
but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone.
Therefore they have destroyed them.
Now therefore, O Lord our God,
save us, I beg you, out of his hand,
that all the kingdoms of the earth
may know that you, the Lord, are God alone.”

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying,
“The Lord says, the God of Israel,
‘Since you have prayed to me
against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.’
This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:

“The virgin daughter of Zion
has despised you and ridiculed you.
The daughter of Jerusalem
has shaken her head at you.

For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out,
and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape.
The zeal of the Lord will perform this.’

“Therefore the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria,
‘He shall not come to this city,
nor shoot an arrow there,
nor shall he come before it with shield,
nor cast up a mound against it.
By the way that he came, the same way shall he return,
and he shall not come to this city,’ says the Lord.
‘For I will defend this city to save it,
for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”

That night, the Lord’s angel went out,
and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand
in the camp of the Assyrians.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed,
and went and returned, and lived at Nineveh.

Responsorial – Psalm 48.2-3ab, 3cd-4, 10-11 Resp. 9d

R. God will establish his city forever.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
in the city of our God,
in his holy mountain, beautiful on the heights,
the joy of the whole earth.

R. God will establish his city forever.

Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
God has shown himself in her citadels
as a refuge.

R. God will establish his city forever.

We have thought about your loving kindness, God,
in the middle of your temple.
As is your name, God, so is your praise
to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is full of righteousness.

R. God will establish his city forever.

Gospel – Matthew 7.6, 12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs,
nor throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them under their feet,
and turn and tear you to pieces.

Therefore whatever you desire
for humans to do to you,
do also to them;
for this is the law and the prophets.

Enter in by the narrow gate;
for wide is the gate and broad is the way
that leads to destruction,
and many are those who enter in by it.
How narrow is the gate
and restricted is the way that leads to life!
those who find it are few.”

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