First Reading

Reading from the prophecy of Ezekiel 

Ezekiel 47, 1-9. 12

In those days, a man led me to the entrance of the temple. Water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from the south of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.

Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the right side. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the waist. Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, “Mortal, have you seen this?”

Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. When I looked around, I saw a great many trees on one side and the other. He said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; and when they enter the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water from the sanctuary shall flow to them. Their fruit shall be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

Gospel

Reading from the holy gospel according to Saint John

John 5, 1-16

Now a certain man was ill, who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your mat and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Therefore the Jews started persecuting him, because he was doing such things on the sabbath.