First Reading

Reading from the book of Isaiah

Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19

The path of the righteous is level;
you, Lord, make level the way of the righteous.
In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and your renown are the soul’s desire.

My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
for you have indeed done for us all our works.

O Lord, in distress they sought you;
they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them.
Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs
when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
we were pregnant, we writhed, but we gave birth only to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
and the inhabitants of the world have not come to life.

Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.

Gospel

Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew

Matthew 11:28-30

At that time, Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”