Daily Mass Readings for November 15, 2026: Gospel — Mt 25,14-30

1 ⁰ Who can find a wife of noble character? For her value is far more than rubies. 1 ¹ Her husband’s heart has trusted her, and he does not lack the dividends. 1 ² She has rewarded him with good and not harm all the days of her life. 1 ³ She sought out wool and flax, then worked happily with her hands. 1 9 :¹ Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his speech and is a fool. ² It is dangerous to have zeal without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily makes poor choices. ³ A person’s folly subverts his way, and his heart rages against the Lord. ⁴ Wealth adds many friends, but a poor person is separated from his friend. ⁵ A false witness will not go unpunished, and the one who spouts out lies will not escape punishment. ⁶ Many people entreat the favor of a generous person, and everyone is the friend of the person who gives gifts. ⁷ All the relatives of a poor person hate him; how much more do his friends avoid him— one who chases words, which are nothing. ⁸ The one who acquires understanding loves himself; the one who preserves understanding will prosper. ⁹ A false witness will not go unpunished, and the one who spouts out lies will perish. 1 ⁰ Luxury is not appropriate for a fool; how much less for a servant to rule over princes! 1 ¹ A person’s wisdom has made him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. 1 ² A king’s wrath is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass. 1 ³ A foolish child is the ruin of his father, and a contentious wife is like a constant dripping. 1 ⁴ A house and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord. 1 ⁵ Laziness brings on a deep sleep, and the idle person will go hungry. 1 ⁶ The one who obeys commandments guards his life; the one who despises his ways will die. 1 ⁷ The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him for his good deed. 1 ⁸ Discipline your child, for there is hope, but do not set your heart on causing his death. 1 ⁹ A person with great anger bears the penalty, but if you deliver him from it once, you will have to do it again. 2 ⁰ Listen to advice and receive discipline, that you may become wise by the end of your life. 2 ¹ There are many plans in a person’s mind, but it is the counsel of the Lord that will stand. 2 ² What is desirable for a person is to show loyal love, and a poor person is better than a liar. 2 ³ Fearing the Lord leads to life, and one who does so will live satisfied; he will not be afflicted by calamity. 2 ⁴ The sluggard has plunged his hand into the dish, and he will not even bring it back to his mouth! 2 ⁵ Flog a scorner, and as a result the simpleton will learn prudence; correct a discerning person, and as a result he will understand knowledge. 2 ⁶ The one who robs his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace. 2 ⁷ If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will stray from the words of knowledge. 2 ⁸ A crooked witness scorns justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity. 2 ⁹ Penalties have been prepared for scorners, and floggings for the backs of fools. 2 0 :¹ Wine is a mocker and strong drink is a brawler; whoever goes astray by them is not wise. ² The king’s terrifying anger is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him sins against himself. ³ It is an honor for a person to cease from strife, but every fool quarrels. ⁴ The sluggard will not plow during the planting season, so at harvest time he asks for grain but has nothing. ⁵ Counsel in a person’s heart is like deep water, but an understanding person draws it out. ⁶ Many people profess their loyalty, but a faithful person—who can find? ⁷ The righteous person behaves in integrity; blessed are his children after him. ⁸ A king sitting on the throne to judge separates out all evil with his eyes. ⁹ Who can say, “I have kept my heart clean; I am pure from my sin”? 1 ⁰ Diverse weights and diverse measures— the Lord abhors both of them. 1 ¹ Even a young man is known by his actions, whether his activity is pure and whether it is right. 1 ² The ear that hears and the eye that sees— the Lord has made them both. 1 ³ Do not love sleep, lest you become impoverished; open your eyes so that you might be satisfied with food. 1 ⁴ “It’s worthless! It’s worthless!” says the buyer, but when he goes on his way, he boasts. 1 ⁵ There is gold and an abundance of rubies, but words of knowledge are like a precious jewel. 1 ⁶ Take a man’s garment when he has given security for a stranger, and hold him in pledge on behalf of strangers. 1 ⁷ Bread gained by deceit tastes sweet to a person, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel. 1 ⁸ Plans are established by counsel, so make war with guidance. 1 ⁹ The one who goes about gossiping reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with someone who is always opening his mouth. 2 ⁰ The one who curses his father and his mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the blackest darkness. 2 ¹ An inheritance gained easily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end. 2 ² Do not say, “I will pay back evil!” Wait for the Lord, so that he may vindicate you. 2 ³ The Lord abhors differing weights, and dishonest scales are wicked. 2 ⁴ The steps of a person are ordained by the Lord— so how can anyone understand his own way? 2 ⁵ It is a snare for a person to rashly cry, “Holy!” and only afterward to consider what he has vowed. 2 ⁶ A wise king separates out the wicked; he turns the threshing wheel over them. 2 ⁷ The human spirit is like the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. 2 ⁸ Loyal love and truth preserve a king, and his throne is upheld by loyal love. 2 ⁹ The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is gray hair. 3 ⁰ Beatings and wounds cleanse away evil, and floggings cleanse the innermost being. 3 0 :¹ The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh; an oracle: This man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ukal: ² Surely I am more brutish than any other human being, and I do not have human understanding; ³ I have not learned wisdom, nor can I have knowledge of the Holy One. ⁴ Who has ascended into heaven, and then descended? Who has gathered up the winds in his fists? Who has bound up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you can know! ⁵ Every word of God is purified; he is like a shield for those who take refuge in him. ⁶ Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you and prove you to be a liar. ⁷ Two things I have asked from you; do not refuse me before I die: ⁸ Remove falsehood and lies far from me; do not give me poverty or riches; feed me with my allotted portion of bread, ⁹ lest I become satisfied and act deceptively and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I become poor and steal and demean the name of my God. 1 ⁰ Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you are found guilty. 1 ¹ There is a generation who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers. 1 ² There is a generation who are pure in their own opinion and yet are not washed from their filthiness. 1 ³ There is a generation whose eyes are so lofty and whose eyelids are lifted up disdainfully. 1 ⁴ There is a generation whose teeth are like swords and whose molars are like knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among the human race. 1 ⁵ The leech has two daughters: “Give! Give!” There are three things that will never be satisfied, four that have never said, “Enough”— 1 ⁶ the grave, the barren womb; earth has not been satisfied with water; and fire has never said, “Enough!” 1 ⁷ The eye that mocks at a father and despises obeying a mother— the ravens of the valley will peck it out, and the young vultures will eat it. 1 ⁸ There are three things that are too wonderful for me, four that I do not understand: 1 ⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the sea, and the way of a man with a woman. 2 ⁰ This is the way of an adulterous woman: She has eaten and wiped her mouth and has said, “I have not done wrong.” 2 ¹ Under three things the earth has trembled, and under four things it cannot bear up: 2 ² under a servant who becomes king, under a fool who becomes stuffed with food, 2 ³ under an unloved woman who becomes married, and under a female servant who dispossesses her mistress. 2 ⁴ There are four things on earth that are small, but they are exceedingly wise: 2 ⁵ Ants are creatures with little strength, but they prepare their food in the summer; 2 ⁶ rock badgers are creatures with little power, but they make their homes in the crags; 2 ⁷ locusts have no king, but they all go forward by ranks; 2 ⁸ a lizard you can catch with the hand, but it gets into the palaces of the king. 2 ⁹ There are three things that are magnificent in their step, four things that move about magnificently: 3 ⁰ a lion, mightiest of the beasts, who does not retreat from anything; 3 ¹ a strutting rooster, a male goat, and a king with his army around him. 3 ² If you have done foolishly by exalting yourself or if you have planned evil, put your hand over your mouth! 3 ³ For as the churning of milk produces butter and as punching the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife. 3 1 :¹ The words of King Lemuel, an oracle that his mother taught him: ² O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows, ³ do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which ruins kings. ⁴ It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to crave strong drink, ⁵ lest they drink and forget what is decreed and remove from all the poor their legal rights. ⁶ Give strong drink to the one who is perishing and wine to those who are bitterly distressed; ⁷ let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more. ⁸ Open your mouth on behalf of those unable to speak, for the legal rights of all the dying. ⁹ Open your mouth, judge in righteousness, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. 1 ⁴ She was like the merchant ships; she would bring in her food from afar. 1 ⁵ Then she rose while it was still night, and provided food for her household and a portion to her female servants. 1 ⁶ She considered a field and bought it; from her own income she planted a vineyard. 1 ⁷ She clothed herself in might, and she strengthened her arms. 1 ⁸ She perceived that her merchandise was good. Her lamp would not go out in the night. 1 ⁹ She extended her hands to the spool, and her hands grasped the spindle. 2 ⁰ She opened her hand to the poor, and extended her hands to the needy. 2 ¹ She would not fear for her household in winter, because all her household were clothed with scarlet, 2 ² because she had made coverings for herself; and because her clothing was fine linen and purple. 2 ³ Her husband is well known in the city gate when he sits with the elders of the land. 2 ⁴ She made linen garments then sold them and traded belts to the merchants; 2 ⁵ her clothing was strong and splendid; and she laughed at the time to come. 2 ⁶ She has opened her mouth with wisdom, with loving instruction on her tongue. 2 ⁷ Watching over the ways of her household, she would not eat the bread of idleness. 2 ⁸ Her children have risen and called her blessed; her husband also has praised her: 2 ⁹ “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you have surpassed them all!” 3 ⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting. A woman who fears the Lord—she makes herself praiseworthy. 3 ¹ Give her credit for what she has accomplished, and let her works praise her in the city gates.

¹ Now on the topic of times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. ² For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. ³ Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape. ⁴ But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would. ⁵ For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. ⁶ So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober.