First Reading

Reading from the prophecy of Micah

Micah 6, 1-4. 6-8

Hear what the Lord says:
“Rise up; call the mountains to judgment,
let the hills hear your voice.
Hear, O mountains, the Lord’s judgment,
pay attention, foundations of the earth:
the Lord brings a case against his people,
he presents his complaints against Israel.

My people, what wrong have I done to you
or in what way have I offended you? Answer me.
With the help of Moses, Aaron and Miriam,
I brought you out of Egypt and delivered you from slavery’’.

What worthy thing shall I offer to the Lord,
bowed down before the God of heaven?
Shall I offer year-old calves as a burnt offering?
Will the Lord accept a thousand rams
or ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn in atonement for my sins,
the fruit of my womb, for my transgression?

Man, I have already explained to you what is good,
what the Lord desires of you:
that you practice justice and love loyalty
and that you be humble with your God.

Gospel

Reading from the holy gospel according to Saint Matthew

Matthew 12, 38-42

At that time, some scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus: “Teacher, we want to see you perform a miraculous sign”. He answered them: “This wicked and unfaithful generation is asking for a sign, but the only sign that will be given to it will be the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so also the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The people of Nineveh will rise at the judgment against this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and here there is someone greater than Jonah.

The queen of the south will rise at the judgment against this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and here there is someone greater than Solomon’’.