Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Psalm 138 : 1-3, 4-6
O Lord, You know me : You have scrutinised me. You know when I sit and when I rise; beforehand You discern my thoughts. You observe my activities and times of rest; You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is formed in my mouth, You know what it is all about, o Lord. From front to back You hedge me round, shielding me with Your protecting hand. Your knowledge leaves me astounded, it is too high for me to reach.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 144 : 10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18
All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.
That all may know of Your mighty deeds, and Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.
Righteous is the Lord in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 33 : 2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23
I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.
The eyes of the Lord are fixed on the righteous; His ears are inclined to their cries. But His face is set against the wicked to destroy their memory from the earth.
The Lord hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught.
Many are the troubles of the just, but the Lord delivers them from all. He keeps all their bones intact, and none of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked; the enemies of the just will be doomed. But the Lord will redeem the life of His servants; none of those who trust in Him will be doomed.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 112 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
Alleluia! Praise, o servants of the Lord, praise the Name of the Lord! Blessed be the Name of the Lord now and forever!
From eastern lands to the western islands, may the Name of the Lord be praised! The Lord is exalted over the nations, His glory above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God, who sits enthroned on high, but also bends down to see on earth as in heaven?
He lifts up the poor from the dust and the needy from the ash heap. He makes them sit with princes, with rulers of His people.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 9 : 1-6
The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. A light has dawned on those who live in the land of the shadow of death. You have enlarged the nation; You have increased their joy. They rejoice before You, as people rejoice at harvest time, as they rejoice in dividing the spoil.
For the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressors, You have broken it as on the day of Midian. Every warrior’s boot that tramped in war, every cloak rolled in blood, will be thrown out for burning, will serve as fuel for the fire.
For a Child is born to us, a Son is given us; the royal ornament is laid upon His shoulder, and His Name is proclaimed : “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” To the increase of His powerful rule in peace, there will be no end. Vast will be His dominion, He will reign on David’s throne and over all His kingdom, to establish and uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forever.
The zealous love of YHVH Sabaoth will do this.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 145 : 5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
Blessed are they whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and all they contain.
The Lord is forever faithful; He gives justice to the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.
The Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord straightens the bent. The Lord protects the stranger.
He sustains the widow and the orphan. The Lord loves the virtuous, but He brings to ruin the way of the wicked. The Lord will reign forever, your God, o Zion, from generation to generation. Alleluia!
Liturgical Colour : White
Ruth 1 : 1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22
There was a famine in the land during the time of the Judges, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah departed with his wife and two sons to sojourn in the country of Moab.
Naomi’s husband Elimelech died. She was left with her two sons, who married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After living in Moab for about ten years, her sons, Mahlon and Chilion also died and Naomi was left bereft of husband and two sons. Having heard that YHVH had come to help His people by giving them food, Naomi prepared to return home.
Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law returns to her people and her gods. You too must return. Go after her.” Ruth replied, “Do not ask me to leave you. For I will go where you go and stay where you stay. Your people will be my people and your God, my God.”
Thus it was that Naomi returned from Moab with her Moabite daughter-in-law and arrived in Bethlehem as the barley harvest began.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 39 : 5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
Blessed is the one who relies on the Lord and does not look to the proud nor go astray after false gods.
Sacrifice and oblation You did not desire; this You had me understand. Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. Then I said, “Here I come!”
As the scroll says of me. To do Your will is my delight, o God, for Your Law is within my heart.
In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.
Liturgical Colour : White
Judges 11 : 29-39a
The Spirit of YHVH came upon Jephthah. He went through Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and then entered the territory of the Ammonites. Jephthah made a vow to YHVH : “If You make me victorious, I shall sacrifice to You whoever first comes out of my house to meet me when I return from battle. He shall be for YHVH and I shall offer him up through the fire.”
Jephthah crossed the territory of the Ammonites to fight against them, and YHVH gave him victory. He pursued them from the city of Aroer to the entrance of Minnith and Abel Keramim, seizing twenty towns. So he defeated the Ammonites.
When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him. She was so happy to see her father that she danced to the sound of her tambourine. She was an only child; besides her he had no other daughter or son. When Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and cried out, “My daughter, you have shattered me; you have brought me misfortune. For I have made a foolish vow to YHVH, and now I cannot take it back.”
She answered, “Father, even if you have made such a foolish vow, you have to do to me just as you promised, for YHVH has avenged you and crushed your enemies. I only beg of you to give me two months to live with my companions in the mountains. There I shall lament because I will never marry.”
Jephthah said to her, “Go then.” And he sent her away for two months. She and her companions went to the mountains and wept because she would never marry. At the end of two months, she returned to her father and he fulfilled the vow he had made.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Psalm 20 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
The king rejoices in Your strength, o Lord, and exults in Your saving help. You have granted him his desire; You have not rejected his request.
You have come to him with rich blessings; You have placed a golden crown upon his head. When he asked, You gave him life – length of days forever and ever.
He glories in the victory You gave him; You shall bestow on him splendour and majesty. You have given him eternal blessings, and gladdened him with the joy of Your presence.
