2 Maccabees 12:43–46

A Catholic funeral reading (first reading), with the full text in the Douay-Rheims.

Reads in about 1 minute4 versesCatholic: Old Testament

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Douay-Rheims

2 Maccabees is in Catholic Bibles but not in the King James Version, so the Douay-Rheims text is given.

1. 43And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection.
2. 44(For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)
3. 45And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.
4. 46It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

Most Catholic parishes in the US read the New American Bible. Read 2 Maccabees 12 in the NABRE at usccb.org.

Where this reading is used

• Catholic: Old Testament (Lectionary for Mass, no. 1011)

Scripture: King James Version (1769 text) and Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (Project Gutenberg #1581); both public domain. Citation as listed in the Lectionary for Mass.