In the days when Christ was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.

Brothers and sisters:/ Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,/ did not regard equality with God something to be grasped./ Rather, he emptied himself,/ taking the form of a slave,/ coming in human ­likeness;/ and found human in appearance,/ he humbled himself,/ becoming obedient to death,/ even death on a cross./ Because of this, God greatly exalted him/ and bestowed on him the name/ that is above every name,/ that at the name of Jesus/ every knee should bend,/ of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,/ and every tongue confess that/ Jesus Christ is Lord,/ to the glory of God the Father.

With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water?

Brothers and sisters: None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.

Wrath and anger are hateful things,/ yet the sinner hugs them tight./ The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance,/ for he remembers their sins in detail./ Forgive your neighbor’s injustice;/ then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven./ Could anyone nourish anger against another/ and expect healing from the Lord?/ Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,/ can he seek pardon for his own sins?/ If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,/ who will ­forgive his sins?/ Remember your last days, set enmity aside;/ remember death and decay, and cease from sin!/ Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;/ remember the Most High’s covenant, and ­overlook faults.