The Second Letter from Saint Paul to the Thessalonians 1: 1-5, 11-12
| 1:1 | Paul and Sylvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 1:2 | Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 1:3 | We ought to give thanks always to God for you, brothers, in a fitting manner, because your faith is increasing greatly, and because the charity of each of you toward one another is abundant, |
| 1:4 | so much so that we ourselves even glory in you among the churches of God, because of your patience and faith in all of your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, |
| 1:5 | which are a sign of the just judgment of God, so that you may be held worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer. |
| 1:11 | Because of this, too, we pray always for you, so that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may complete every act of his goodness, as well as his work of faith in virtue, |
| 1:12 | in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. |
Gospel
Matthew 23: 13- 22
23:13 So then: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you close the kingdom of heaven before men. For you yourselves do not enter, and those who are entering, you would not permit to enter.
23:14 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you consume the houses of widows, praying long prayers. Because of this, you shall receive the greater judgment.
23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and by land, in order to make one convert. And when he has been converted, you make him twice the son of Hell that you are yourselves.
23:16 Woe to you, blind guides, who say: ‘Whoever will have sworn by the temple, it is nothing. But whoever will have sworn by the gold of the temple is obligated.’
23:17 You are foolish and blind! For which is greater: the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
23:18 And you say: ‘Whoever will have sworn by the altar, it is nothing. But whoever will have sworn by the gift that is on the altar is obligated.’
23:19 How blind you are! For which is greater: the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
23:20 Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all that is on it.
23:21 And whoever will have sworn by the temple, swears by it, and by him who dwells in it.
23:22 And whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it.