Daily readings

Friday, July 17, 2026

Friday of the 15th week of Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time. A clean reading layout for church, prayer, or preparation.

CelebrationFriday of the 15th week of Ordinary Time

TypeWeekday

SeasonOrdinary Time

Year2026 archive

The Roman Catholic readings for this date are shown below on-site. Use plain reading mode if you want clearer modern wording, or switch back to the original Douay-Rheims wording at any time.

Reading mode

Plain mode helps modern readers follow the text more easily.

On-site scripture text: Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition. Plain mode is a built-in reading aid that modernizes older wording for easier understanding while keeping the same Roman Catholic reading references for the day.

1

First Reading

Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8

How to approach it

Read this as the first big movement of the day. Notice what God is doing, who is speaking, and what part of the story or teaching should stay with you.

1In those days Ezechias was sick even to death, and Isaias the son of Amos the prophet came to him, and said to him: Thus says the Lord: Take order with your house, for you shall die, and not live.

2And Ezechias turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord,

3And said: I beg you, OH Lord, remember how I have walked before you in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight. And Ezechias wept with great weeping.

4And the word of the Lord came to Isaias, saying:

5Go and say to Ezechias: Thus says the Lord the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears: look I will add to your days fifteen years:

6And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it.

21Now Isaias had ordered that they should take a lump of figs, and lay it as it plaster upon the wound, and that he should be healed.

22And Ezechias bed said: What shah be the sign that I shah go up to the house of the Lord?

7And this shall be a sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word which he has said:

8Look I will bring again the shadow of the lines, by which it is now gone down in the sun dial of Achaz with the sun, ten lines backward. And the sun returned ten lines by the degrees by which it was gone down.

2

Psalm

Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16

How to pray it

The psalm is meant to be prayed, not rushed. If the wording feels older, focus on the main movement of the prayer: trust, praise, sorrow, gratitude, or hope.

10I said: In the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell: I sought for the residue of my years.

11I said: I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I shall look man no more, nor the inhabitant of rest.

16OH Lord, if man's life be such, and the life of my spirit be in such things as these, you shall correct me, and make me to live.

3

Gospel

Matthew 12:1-8

What to watch for

The Gospel is the center of the reading set. Pay close attention to what Jesus says, what Jesus does, and what response he is asking for.

1At that time Jesus went through the corn on the sabbath: and his disciples being hungry, began to pluck the ears, and to eat.

2And the Pharisees seeing them, said to him: Look your disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days.

3But he said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him:

4How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the bread of proposition, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for them that were with him, but for the priests only?

5Or have you not read in the law, that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and are without blame?

6But I tell you that there is here a greater than the temple.

7And if you knew what this meaneth: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: you would never have condemned the innocent.

8For the Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath.

Source note

This page uses the Catholic Readings API for the day's references and liturgical celebration data, while the on-site scripture text is rendered from the public-domain Douay-Rheims Bible distributed through the Open Bibles project.