First Reading

Nahum 2, 1. 3; 3, 1-3. 6-7

Already coming over the mountain
is the messenger of good news,
who announces peace.
Celebrate your feasts, Judah, and fulfill your vows,
because the wicked will not invade you again,
for he has been annihilated.

The Lord will restore the vineyard of Jacob,
which is the pride of Israel.
The invaders had devastated it,
they had destroyed its branches.

But woe to you, Nineveh, city of blood,
full of lies and plunder,
who have not ceased to rob!
Listen to the crack of the whips
and the rumble of the wheels,
the horses galloping,
the chariots leaping
and the cavalry advancing.
Behold the flashing of swords
and the gleaming of spears.
Behold the multitude of wounded
and the heaps of dead,
the endless number of corpses
with which one stumbles.

I will cast filth upon you,
I will dishonor you and expose you to public shame.
And all who see you will flee from you and say:
“Nineveh is destroyed”.
Who will have compassion on you?
Where can I find someone to comfort you?

Gospel

Reading from the holy gospel according to Saint Matthew

Matthew 16, 24-28

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever wants to come with me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world if he loses his life? And what can a man give in exchange to recover it?

For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to his works.

I assure you that some of those present here will not die before they have seen the Son of Man come as king’’.