A reading from the book of Ecclesiastes.

Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities!  All things are vanity! So it is that one who has labored wisely, skillfully and successfully must leave what is one’s own to someone who has not toiled for it at all.  This is vanity and great injustice; for what does one gain for all the toil and strain under the sun?  And for all the laborious days, the cares of office, the restless nights?  This, too, is vanity.

The Word of God recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes.

R: If today you hear God’s  voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us sing joyfully to God;

let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.

Let us greet God with thanksgiving;

let us joyfully sing psalms.

R: If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship;

let us kneel before the God who made us.

For the Most High is Our God,

and we are the people God shepherds, the flock God guides.

R: If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.

O, that today you would hear God’s voice:

“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,

As in the days of Massah in the desert,

where your ancestors tempted me;

They tested me though they had seen my works.”

R: If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.