The Readings for November 16th, 2014, The 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

First Reading: Zephaniah 1:7, 12–18

⁷Be silent before the Lord GOD!

For the day of the LORD is at hand;

the LORD has prepared a sacrifice,

he has consecrated his guests.

  ¹²At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the people

who rest complacently on their dregs,

those who say in their hearts,

"The LORD will not do good,

nor will he do harm."

  ¹³Their wealth shall be plundered,

and their houses laid waste.

Though they build houses,

they shall not inhabit them;

though they plant vineyards,

they shall not drink wine from them.

  ¹⁴The great day of the LORD is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter,

the warrior cries aloud there.

  ¹⁵That day will be a day of wrath,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness,

  ¹⁶a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

  ¹⁷I will bring such distress upon people

that they shall walk like the blind;

because they have sinned against the LORD,

their blood shall be poured out like dust,

and their flesh like dung.

  ¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold

will be able to save them

on the day of the LORD's wrath;

in the fire of his passion

the whole earth shall be consumed;

for a full, a terrible end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.\

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.  ²For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  ³When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!  ⁴But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;  ⁵for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.  ⁶So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober;  ⁷for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.  ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.  ⁹For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  ¹⁰who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.  ¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

Gospel: Matthew 25:14–30

¹⁴For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them;  ¹⁵to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.  ¹⁶The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents.  ¹⁷In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents.  ¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.  ¹⁹After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.  ²⁰Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, 'Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.'  ²¹His master said to him, 'Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'  ²²And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, 'Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.'  ²³His master said to him, 'Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'  ²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed;  ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.'  ²⁶But his master replied, 'You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter?  ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.  ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents.  ²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.  ³⁰As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'