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TWELFTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME
CYCLE II
FRIDAY
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FIRST READING
2 KINGS 25:1-12
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A READING FROM THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS
(JUDAH WAS DEPORTED FROM THE LAND.)
In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign,
in the tenth month,
on the tenth day of the month,
Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon
came with his whole army to attack Jerusalem;
he pitched camp in front of the city and threw up earthworks round it.
The city lay under siege till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month,
when famine was raging in the city and there was no food for the populace,
a breach was made in the city wall.
At once, the King made his escape under cover of dark,
with all the fighting men,
by way of the gate between the two walls,
which is near the king’s garden
– the Chaldaeans had surrounded the city –
and made his way towards the Arabah.
The Chaldaean troops pursued the king
and caught up with him in the plains of Jericho,
where all his troops deserted.
The Chaldaeans captured the king and took him to the King of Babylon at Riblah,
who passed sentence on him.
He had the sons of Zedekiah slaughtered before his eyes,
then put out Zedekiah’s eyes and loading him with chains, carried him off to Babylon.
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month
– it was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon –
Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard,
an officer of the king of Babylon,
entered Jerusalem.
He burned down the Temple of the Lord,
the royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem.
The Chaldaean troops who accompanied the commander of the guard
demolished the walls surrounding Jerusalem.
Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard,
deported the remainder of the population left behind in the city,
the deserters who had gone over to the king of Babylon,
and the rest of the common people.
The commander of the guard left some of the humbler country people
as vineyard workers and ploughmen.
The word of the Lord.
R.) Thanks be to God.
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responsorialpsalmcatholic 