TRINITY SUNDAY YEAR A  SUNDAY 31 May 2026

FIRST READING

Isaiah 40.12–17, 27–31

A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,

and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has directed the spirit of the LORD,

or as his counsellor has instructed him?

14 Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,

and who taught him the path of justice?

Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?

15 Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

and are accounted as dust on the scales;

see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.

16 Lebanon would not provide fuel enough,

nor are its animals enough for a burnt-offering.

17 All the nations are as nothing before him;

they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,

‘My way is hidden from the LORD,

and my right is disregarded by my God’?

28 Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,

and strengthens the powerless.

30 Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;

31 but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint.

PSALM Psalm 8

R [O Lord our governor,]

how exalted is your name in all the earth.

1 O Lord our governor,

how exalted is your name in all the world!

2 Out of the mouths of infants and children

your majesty is praised above the heavens.

3 You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries,

to quell the enemy and the avenger. R

4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,

5 What are mortals, that you should be mindful of them?

mere human beings, that you should seek them out?

6 You have made them little lower than the angels;

you adorn them with glory and honour. R

7 You give them mastery over the works of your hands;

and put all things under their feet,

8 All sheep and oxen,

even the wild beasts of the field,

9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,

and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea. R

[ 10 O Lord our governor,

how exalted is your name in all the world! ]

SECOND READING 2 Corinthians 13.11–13

A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.

11 Brothers and sisters,

put things in order, listen to my appeal,

agree with one another, live in peace;

and the God of love and peace will be with you.

12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.

All the saints greet you.

13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,

the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit

be with all of you.

GOSPEL Matthew 28.16–20

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

16 The eleven disciples went to Galilee,

to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

17 When they saw him, they worshipped him;

but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and said to them,

‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.

And remember, I am with you always,

to the end of the age.’

FIRST READING Hosea 5.15 – 6.6

A reading from the book of the prophet Hosea.

Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel:

15 I will return again to my place

until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.

In their distress they will beg my favour:

1 ‘Come,

let us return to the LORD;

for it is he who has torn,

and he will heal us;

he has struck down,

and he will bind us up.

2 After two days he will revive us;

on the third day he will raise us up,

that we may live before him.

3 Let us know,

let us press on to know the LORD;

his appearing is as sure as the dawn;

he will come to us like the showers,

like the spring rains that water the earth.’

4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,

like the dew that goes away early.

5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,

I have killed them by the words of my mouth,

and my judgement goes forth as the light.

6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,

the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.

PSALM Psalm 50.7–15

R The Lord will show his salvation to the upright.

7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak:

‘O Israel, I will bear witness against you;

for I am God, your God.

8 I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices;

your offerings are always before me. R

9 I will take no bull-calf from your stalls,

nor he-goats out of your pens;

10 For the beasts of the forest are mine,

the herds in their thousands upon the hills.

11 I know every bird in the sky,

and the creatures of the fields are in my sight. R

12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.

13 Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls,

or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving

and make good your vows to the Most High.

15 Call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you and you shall honour me.’ R

SECOND READING Romans 4.13–25

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.

13 The promise that Abraham would inherit the world

did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law

but through the righteousness of faith.

14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs,

faith is null and the promise is void.

15 For the law brings wrath;

but where there is no law,

neither is there violation.

16 For this reason it depends on faith,

in order that the promise may rest on grace

and be guaranteed to all his descendants,

not only to the adherents of the law

but also to those who share the faith of Abraham

(for he is the father of all of us,

17 as it is written,

‘I have made you the father of many nations’) –

Abraham believed in the presence of the God

who gives life to the dead

and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

18 Hoping against hope,

he believed that he would become

‘the father of many nations,’

according to what was said,

‘So numerous shall your descendants be.’

19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body,

which was already as good as dead

(for he was about a hundred years old),

or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.

20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God,

but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,

21 being fully convinced that God was able to do

what he had promised.

22 Therefore his faith ‘was reckoned to him as righteousness.’

23 Now the words, ‘it was reckoned to him,’

were written not for his sake alone,

24 but for ours also.

It will be reckoned to us who believe in God

who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses

and was raised for our justification.

GOSPEL Matthew 9.9–13, 18–26

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

9 As Jesus was walking along,

he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth;

and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

And he got up and followed him.

10 And as he sat at dinner in the house,

many tax-collectors and sinners came

and were sitting with him and his disciples.

11 When the Pharisees saw this,

they said to his disciples,

‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’

12 But when he heard this, he said,

‘Those who are well have no need of a physician,

but those who are sick.

13 Go and learn what this means,

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

18 While he was saying these things to them,

suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him,

saying, ‘My daughter has just died;

but come and lay your hand on her,

and she will live.’

19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.

20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years

came up behind him

and touched the fringe of his cloak,

21 for she said to herself,

‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.’

22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said,

‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’

And instantly the woman was made well.

23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house

and saw the flute-players and the crowd making a commotion,

24 he said,

‘Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’

And they laughed at him.

25 But when the crowd had been put outside,

he went in and took her by the hand,

and the girl got up.

26 And the report of this spread throughout that district.