SUNDAY 5th July 2026 Fifth Sunday after Trinity

FIRST READING Zechariah 9.9–12

A reading from the book of the prophet Zechariah.

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and the war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle-bow shall be cut off,

and he shall command peace to the nations;

his dominion shall be from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

11 As for you also,

because of the blood of my covenant with you,

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

12 Return to your stronghold,

O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore to you double.

PSALM Psalm 145.8–15

R I will exalt you, O God my king,

[and bless your name for ever].

8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,

slow to anger and of great kindness.

9 The Lord is loving to everyone

and his compassion is over all his works.

10 All your works praise you, O Lord,

and your faithful servants bless you. R

11 They make known the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your power;

12 That the peoples may know of your power

and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your dominion endures throughout all ages. R

14 The Lord is faithful in all his words

and merciful in all his deeds.

15 The Lord upholds all those who fall;

he lifts up those who are bowed down. R

SECOND READING Romans 7.15–25a

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.

15 I do not understand my own actions.

For I do not do what I want,

but I do the very thing I hate.

16 Now if I do what I do not want,

I agree that the law is good.

17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it,

but sin that dwells within me.

18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me,

that is, in my flesh.

I can will what is right,but I cannot do it.

19 For I do not do the good I want,

but the evil I do not want is what I do.

20 Now if I do what I do not want,

it is no longer I that do it,

but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good,

evil lies close at hand.

22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self,

23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind,

making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

24 Wretched man that I am!

Who will rescue me from this body of death?

25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

GOSPEL Matthew 11.16–19, 25–30

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.

At that time Jesus said,

16 ‘To what will I compare this generation?

It is like children sitting in the market-places

and calling to one another,

17 “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we wailed, and you did not mourn.”

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking,

and they say, “He has a demon”;

19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking,

and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard,

a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!”

Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.

25 I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

because you have hidden these things

from the wise and the intelligent

and have revealed them to infants;

26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father;

and no one knows the Son except the Father,

and no one knows the Father except the Son

and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 Come to me, all you that are weary

and are carrying heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’