Reading 1, Revelation 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9

¹ After this, I saw another angel come down from heaven, with great authority given to him; the earth shone with his glory.

² At the top of his voice he shouted, 'Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, and has become the haunt of devils and a lodging for every foul spirit and dirty, loathsome bird.

²¹ Then a powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone, and as he hurled it into the sea, he said, 'That is how the great city of Babylon is going to be hurled down, never to be seen again.

²² Never again in you will be heard the song of harpists and minstrels, the music of flute and trumpet; never again will craftsmen of every skill be found in you or the sound of the handmill be heard;

²³ never again will shine the light of the lamp in you, never again will be heard in you the voices of bridegroom and bride. Your traders were the princes of the earth, all the nations were led astray by your sorcery.

¹ After this I heard what seemed to be the great sound of a huge crowd in heaven, singing, 'Alleluia! Salvation and glory and power to our God!

² He judges fairly, he punishes justly, and he has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her prostitution; he has avenged the blood of his servants which she shed.'

³ And again they sang, 'Alleluia! The smoke of her will rise for ever and ever.'

⁹ The angel said, 'Write this, "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb," ' and he added, 'These words of God are true.'

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Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 100:2, 3, 4, 5

² serve Yahweh with gladness, come into his presence with songs of joy!

³ Be sure that Yahweh is God, he made us, we belong to him, his people, the flock of his sheepfold.

⁴ Come within his gates giving thanks, to his courts singing praise, give thanks to him and bless his name!

⁵ For Yahweh is good, his faithful love is everlasting, his constancy from age to age.

Gospel, Luke 21:20-28

²⁰ 'When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you must realise that it will soon be laid desolate.

²¹ Then those in Judaea must escape to the mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those in country districts must not take refuge in it.

²² For this is the time of retribution when all that scripture says must be fulfilled.

²³ Alas for those with child, or with babies at the breast, when those days come!

²⁴ 'For great misery will descend on the land and retribution on this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive to every gentile country; and Jerusalem will be trampled down by the gentiles until their time is complete.

²⁵ 'There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the turmoil of the ocean and its waves;

²⁶ men fainting away with terror and fear at what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.

²⁷ And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.'

June 2013

July 2013

The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated "directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic." The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only "where the text admits to more than one interpretation." Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. "New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition", pg. v.

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