Mass Readings — Friday, June 26, 2026

¹In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it. ²So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. ³On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. ⁴Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah. ⁵But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶Then they captured the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgment on him. ⁷They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon. ⁸Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹He burned Yahweh’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire. ¹⁰All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude. ¹²But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

¹By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. ²On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps. ³For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” ⁴How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land? ⁵If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. ⁶Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you; if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.

¹When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. ²Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.” ³Jesus stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴Jesus said to him, “See that you tell nobody, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”