August 20, 2014
We hope that today is a good day.
◇Daily Readings August 20, 2014
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082014.cfm
◇August 20, 2014 Daily Mass Reading
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/14_08_20.mp3
The New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)
http://www.usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/index.cfm
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◇The World English Bible
http://ebible.org/web/
Gospel Matthew 20:1-16
1 "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard.
2 When he had agreed with the labourers for a denarius* a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 He went out about the third hour,† and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.
4 He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went their way.
5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour,‡ and did likewise.
6 About the eleventh hour§ he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?'
7 "They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.'
"He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.'
8 When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the labourers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.'
9 "When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.
10 When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius.
11 When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household,
12 saying, 'These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!'
13 "But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn't you agree with me for a denarius?
14 Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.
15 Isn't it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?'
16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen."
*20:2: A denarius is a silver Roman coin worth 1/25th of a Roman aureus. This was a common wage for a day of farm labour.
†20:3: Time was measured from sunrise to sunset, so the third hour would be about 9:00 AM.
‡20:5: noon and 3:00 P. M.
§20:6: 5:00 PM
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Ezekiel 34:1-11
1 the LORD's word came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don't feed the sheep.
4 You haven't strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them.
5 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was no one who searched or sought.
7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the LORD's word:
8 As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep;
9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the LORD's word:
10 Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.
11 For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
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◇King James Version Bible Online
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/book.php?book=Matthew&chapter=20&verse=
◇Zondervan King James Audio Bible
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/kjv/Matt.20
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◇Douay-Rheims Bible
http://www.drbo.org/
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