Reader
A reading from the Book of Proverbs 23:19-21,29-24:2

¹⁹Hear, my child, and be wise,
and direct your mind in the way.
²⁰Do not be among winebibbers,
or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and drowsiness will clothe them with rags.
²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
³⁰Those who linger late over wine,
those who keep trying mixed wines.
³¹Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
³²At the last it bites like a serpent,
and stings like an adder.
³³Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind utter perverse things.
³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.
³⁵"They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I will seek another drink."
¹Do not envy the wicked,
nor desire to be with them;
²for their minds devise violence,
and their lips talk of mischief.

Reader
A reading from the First Letter to Timothy 5:17-25

¹⁷Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching; ¹⁸for the scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves to be paid." ¹⁹Never accept any accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁰As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest also may stand in fear. ²¹In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality. ²²Do not ordain anyone hastily, and do not participate in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. ²³No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. ²⁴The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there. ²⁵So also good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.

Reader
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 13:31-35

³¹He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; ³²it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." ³³He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." ³⁴Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. ³⁵This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth to speak in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world."