Daily Mass Readings

First Reading

1 Samuel 16:1-13

¹And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

²And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.

³And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.

⁴And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?

⁵And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

⁶And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.

⁷But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this.

⁹Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this.

¹⁰Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these.

¹¹And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

¹²And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

Text shown in KJV (public domain).

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 89:20, 21-22, 27-28

²⁰I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

²¹With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

²²The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

²⁷Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

²⁸My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

Text shown in KJV (public domain).

Gospel

Mark 2:23-28

²³And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

²⁴And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

²⁵And he said unto them,Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

²⁶How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

²⁷And he said unto them,The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

²⁸Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Text shown in KJV (public domain).

The readings proclaimed at Mass in the United States follow the NABRE Lectionary. Read today's official text at USCCB →

Verse text shown from public-domain translations (KJV; Douay-Rheims chain for deuterocanonical books). The text proclaimed at Mass in the United States is the NABRE Lectionary — read it at the USCCB link.