将临期第三周星期四
Thursday of the Third Week in Advent
读经一
恭读依撒意亚先知书 54:1-10
不生育的石女，欢乐吧！未经产痛的女子！欢呼高唱吧！因为被弃者的子女比有夫者的子女还多：这是上主说的。拓展你帐幕的空位，伸展你住所的帷慢，不必顾忌！拉长你的绳索，坚固你的木橛！因为你要向左右拓展，你的后裔将以外邦之地为业，住满废弃了的城邑！
不要害怕！因为你再不会蒙羞；不要羞惭！因为你再不会受辱；其实，你要忘记你幼年时所受的耻辱，再不怀念寡居时所受的侮慢，因为你的夫君是你的造主，他的名字是“万军的上主”；你的救主是以色列的圣者，他将称为“全世界的天主”。
是的，上主召见你时，你是一个被弃而心灵忧伤的妇女；人岂能遗弃他青年时的妻子？你的天主说。
其实，我离弃了你，只是一会儿，但是我要用绝大的仁慈召你回来。在我的盛怒中，我曾一会儿掩面不看你，可是我要以永远的慈悲怜悯你，你的救主上主说。这事对我有如诺厄的时日一般：就如那时我会发誓说：诺厄的大水不再淹没世界；同样，我如今起誓：再不向你发怒，再不责斥你。高山可移动，丘陵能挪去，但我对你的仁慈决不移去，我的和平盟约总不动摇：怜悯你的上主说。
Reading 1
A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah 54:1-10
Raise a glad cry, you barren one who did not bear,
Break forth in jubilant song, you who were not in labor,
For more numerous are the children of the deserted wife
than the children of her who has a husband,
says the Lord.
Enlarge the space for your tent,
spread out your tent cloths unsparingly;
lengthen your ropes and make firm your stakes.
For you shall spread abroad to the right and to the left;
your descendants shall dispossess the nations
and shall people the desolate cities.
Fear not, you shall not be put to shame;
you need not blush, for you shall not be disgraced.
The shame of your youth you shall forget,
the reproach of your widowhood no longer remember.
For he who has become your husband is your Maker;
his name is the Lord of hosts;
Your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
called God of all the earth.
The Lord calls you back,
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
A wife married in youth and then cast off,
says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great tenderness I will take you back.
In an outburst of wrath, for a moment
I hid my face from you;
But with enduring love I take pity on you,
says the Lord, your redeemer.
This is for me like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah
should never again deluge the earth;
So I have sworn not to be angry with you,
or to rebuke you.
Though the mountains leave their place
and the hills be shaken,
My love shall never leave you
nor my covenant of peace be shaken,
says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
福音
恭读圣路加福音 7:24-30
若翰的使者走了以后，耶稣就对群众论若翰说：“你们出去到荒野是为什么呢？为看一枝被风摇曳的芦苇吗？你们出去到底是为看什么？为看一位穿细软衣服的人吗？啊！那衣着华丽和生活奢侈的人是在王宫里！你们出去究竟是为看什么？为看一位先知吗？是的，我告诉你们：而且他比先知还大！关于这人，经上记载说：‘看，我派遣我的使者在你面前，他要在你前面预备你的道路。’我告诉你们：妇女所生的，没有一个比若翰更大的；但在天主的国内最小的，也比他大。听教的众百姓和税吏，都承认天主正义的要求而领受了若翰的洗礼。但法利塞人和法学士却没有受他的洗，在自己身上使天主的计划作废。
Gospel
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 7:24-30
When the messengers of John the Baptist had left,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John.
“What did you go out to the desert to see a reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in fine garments?
Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously
are found in royal palaces.
Then what did you go out to see?
A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom Scripture says:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
he will prepare your way before you.
I tell you,
among those born of women, no one is greater than John;
yet the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”
(All the people who listened, including the tax collectors,
who were baptized with the baptism of John,
acknowledged the righteousness of God;
but the Pharisees and scholars of the law,
who were not baptized by him,
rejected the plan of God for themselves.)