A reading from
the Book of Wisdom3:1-9
The souls of the just are in the hand of God,/ and no torment shall touch them./ They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;/ and their passing away was thought an affliction/ and their going forth from us, utter destruction./ But they are in peace./ For if before men, indeed, they be punished,/ yet is their hope full of immortality;/ chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,/ because God tried them/ and found them worthy of himself./ As gold in the furnace, he proved them,/ and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself./ In the time of their visitation they shall shine,/ and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;/ they shall judge nations and rule over peoples,/ and the Lord shall be their King forever./ Those who trust in him shall understand truth,/ and the faithful shall abide with him in love:/ because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,/ and his care is with his elect.
The word of the Lord.
