See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. 14 Even as many were amazed at him— so marred were his features, beyond that of mortals his appearance, beyond that of human beings— 15 So shall he startle many nations, kings shall stand speechless; For those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it. 1 Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye, no beauty to draw us to him. 3 He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, knowing pain, Like one from whom you turn your face, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.  4 Yet it was our pain that he bore, our sufferings he endured. We thought of him as stricken, struck down by God and afflicted, 5 But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds...

First Reading: Isaiah 58:7-10 7 Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own flesh? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!” If you remove the yoke from among you, the accusing finger, and malicious speech; 10 If you lavish your food on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall become like midday; Isaiah describes faithful living in concrete terms: feeding the hungry, sheltering the afflicted and homeless, clothing the naked, and refusing to turn away from “ your own flesh ,” meaning those you are bound to care for. This is not presented as optional kindne...

In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. 2 Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered. 3 One cried out to the other: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!” 4 At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send ...

For thus says the Lord God: Look! I myself will search for my sheep and examine them. 12 As a shepherd examines his flock while he himself is among his scattered sheep, so will I examine my sheep. I will deliver them from every place where they were scattered on the day of dark clouds. 13 I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and every inhabited place in the land. 14 In good pastures I will pasture them; on the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down on good grazing ground; in rich pastures they will be pastured on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest—oracle of the Lord God. 16 The lost I will search out, the strays I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and the sick I will heal; but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them i...

The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright [...] 12 Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us; he opposes our actions, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. 13 He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD. 14 To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, 15 Because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways. 16 He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the righteous and boasts that God is his Father. 17 Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him in the end. 18 For if the righteous one is the son of God, God will help him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. 19 With violence and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. 20 Let us condemn him to a sham...

For thus says the Lord God: Look! I myself will search for my sheep and examine them. 12 As a shepherd examines his flock while he himself is among his scattered sheep, so will I examine my sheep. I will deliver them from every place where they were scattered on the day of dark clouds. 13 I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and every inhabited place in the land. 14 In good pastures I will pasture them; on the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down on good grazing ground; in rich pastures they will be pastured on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest—oracle of the Lord God. 16 The lost I will search out, the strays I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and the sick I will heal; but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them i...

Do not reprove me in your anger, Lord, nor punish me in your wrath. 3 Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are shuddering. 4 My soul too is shuddering greatly—and you, Lord, how long…? 5 Turn back, Lord, rescue my soul; save me because of your mercy. 6 For in death there is no remembrance of you. Who praises you in Sheol? Psalm 6:2–6, one of the seven traditional Penitential Psalms, is a heartfelt plea for mercy from one who suffers not only physically but also spiritually and emotionally.  It is a prayer of the just who, though afflicted, place their trust entirely in God's mercy.  The fear of death expressed here is not merely for its pain, but because—under the Old Covenant understanding—Sheol was viewed as a realm of silence, cut off from the worship and praise of God (cf. Ps. 30:10; Is. 38:18–19).  There is an urgent eschatological longing for God’s saving intervention, not based on personal merit, but on His steadfast love (chesed) and d...

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. 2 In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; 3 he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. 5 You set a table before me in front of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the Lord for endless days. Psalm 23 is a psalm of trust in the Lord’s providential care, expressed in the imagery of a shepherd and a gracious host.  The psalmist, traditionally identified as David, proclaims his confidence in God’s guidance, provision, and protection even in the face of danger and suffering.  The familiar opening, “ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack ” (v.1), evokes the intimate, personal relationship between God an...

This rather is what I commanded them: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk exactly in the way I command you, so that you may prosper. 24 But they did not listen to me, nor did they pay attention. They walked in the stubbornness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. 25 From the day that your ancestors left the land of Egypt even to this day, I kept on sending all my servants the prophets to you. 26 Yet they have not listened to me nor have they paid attention; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their ancestors. 27 When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either. When you call to them, they will not answer you. 28 Say to them: This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech. From the earliest days of Israel’s history, God has been speaking to His people...

Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye, no beauty to draw us to him. 3 He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, knowing pain, Like one from whom you turn your face, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. 4 Yet it was our pain that he bore, our sufferings he endured. We thought of him as stricken, struck down by God and afflicted, 5 But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed. 6 We had all gone astray like sheep, all following our own way; But the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all. 7 Though harshly treated, he submitted and did not open his mouth; Like a lamb led to slaughter or a sheep silent before shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 Seized and condemned, he was taken away. Who would have thought any more of his ...

There he came to a cave, where he took shelter. But the word of the Lord came to him: Why are you here, Elijah? 10 He answered: “I have been most zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword. I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.” 11 Then the Lord said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord—but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 after the earthquake, fire—but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. 13 When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah? 14  He replied, “I have been most zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, but the Israelite...