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A '''pericope''' ([[w:Greek language|Greek]] περικοπή; [[w:Church Slavonic language|Slavonic]]: Зачало (''Zachalo''), "a cutting-out") is a portion of text selected to be read aloud, such as the [[Epistle]] and [[Gospel]] readings.
This is also a term used in biblical studies in reference to distinct textual units, which are sections of scripture with a definable beginning and ending, for example, a parable in the Gospels is a distinct textual unit, as are particular accounts of miracles that Christ worked.
[[Lectionary|Lectionaries]] are normally made up of pericopes containing the [[Epistle]] and [[Gospel]] readings for the liturgical year. A pericope consisting of passages from different parts of a single book, or from different books of the Bible, and linked together into a single reading is called a ''[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/concatenation concatenation]'' or ''composite reading''.