Psalm 147:1–11

¹Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
²The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
³He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
⁴He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
⁵Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
⁶The Lord lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre!
⁸He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
⁹He gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
¹⁰His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
¹¹but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Old Testament Reading Jeremiah 22:1–23

¹Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, ²and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O King of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. ³Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. ⁵But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. ⁶For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“‘You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
an uninhabited city.
⁷I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.

⁸“‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” ⁹And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”

¹⁰Weep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.

¹¹For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, ¹²but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”

¹³“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
¹⁴who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
¹⁵Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
¹⁶He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
declares the Lord.
¹⁷But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”

¹⁸Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

“They shall not lament for him, saying,
‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
¹⁹With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
²⁰“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers are destroyed.
²¹I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
This has been your way from your youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
²²The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and your lovers shall go into captivity;
then you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
²³O inhabitant of Lebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
pain as of a woman in labor!”

New Testament Reading Matthew 25:1–13

¹[Jesus said:] “The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”