july 19, 2011 Exodus 14: 21 - 31 Exodus 15: 1 Exodus 15: 8 - 10, 12, 17 Matthew 12: 46 - 50

Exodus 14: 21 - 31
21	Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22	And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
23	The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24	And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down upon the host of the Egyptians, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians,
25	clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily; and the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel; for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."
26	Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."
27	So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its wonted flow when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled into it, and the LORD routed the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28	The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not so much as one of them remained.
29	But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30	Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.
31	And Israel saw the great work which the LORD did against the Egyptians, and the people feared the LORD; and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Exodus 15: 1
1	Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. Exodus 15: 8 - 10, 12, 17 8 At the blast of thy nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, `I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.' 10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters. 12 Thou didst stretch out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. 17 Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them on thy own mountain, the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thy abode, the sanctuary, LORD, which thy hands have established. Matthew 12: 46 - 50 46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."

july 18, 2011 Exodus 14: 5 - 18 Exodus 15: 1 - 6 Matthew 12: 38 - 42

Exodus 14: 5 - 18
5	When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"
6	So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him,
7	and took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
8	And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the people of Israel as they went forth defiantly.
9	The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-ha-hi'roth, in front of Ba'al-ze'phon.
10	When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were in great fear. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD;
11	and they said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt?
12	Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, `Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."
13	And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
14	The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be still."
15	The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
16	Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go on dry ground through the sea.
17	And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
18	And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen." Exodus 15: 1 - 6 1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. 3 The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name. 4 "Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea; and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea. 5 The floods cover them; they went down into the depths like a stone. 6 Thy right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, thy right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. Matthew 12: 38 - 42 38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." 39 But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nin'eveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

july 15, 2011 Wisdom 8: 2 - 7, 16 - 18 1 Corinthians 2: 6 - 13 Psalms 16: 5 - 9, 11 Matthew 5: 13 - 19

Wisdom 8: 2 - 7, 16 - 18
2	I loved her and sought her from my youth, and I desired to take her for my bride, and I became enamored of her beauty.
3	She glorifies her noble birth by living with God, and the Lord of all loves her.
4	For she is an initiate in the knowledge of God, and an associate in his works.
5	If riches are a desirable possession in life, what is richer than wisdom who effects all things?
6	And if understanding is effective, who more than she is fashioner of what exists?
7	And if any one loves righteousness, her labors are virtues; for she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage; nothing in life is more profitable for men than these.
16	When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her, for companionship with her has no bitterness, and life with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.
17	When I considered these things inwardly, and thought upon them in my mind, that in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
18	and in friendship with her, pure delight, and in the labors of her hands, unfailing wealth, and in the experience of her company, understanding, and renown in sharing her words, I went about seeking how to get her for myself.

---

 

1 Corinthians 2: 6 - 13
6	Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
7	But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification.
8	None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9	But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,"
10	God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
11	For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12	Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
13	And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.

---

 

Psalms 16: 5 - 9, 11
5	The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot.
6	The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
7	I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8	I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9	Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure.
11	Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fulness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore. Matthew 5: 13 - 19 13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. 15 Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 17 "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

july 14, 2011 Ex 3:13-20 13 Psalms 105:5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27 Mt 11:28-30

Ex 3:13-20

¹³ Moses then said to God, 'Look, if I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors has sent me to you," and they say to me, "What is his name?" what am I to tell them?'
¹⁴ God said to Moses, 'I am he who is.' And he said, 'This is what you are to say to the Israelites, "I am has sent me to you." '
¹⁵ God further said to Moses, 'You are to tell the Israelites, "Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you." This is my name for all time, and thus I am to be invoked for all generations to come.
¹⁶ 'Go, gather the elders of Israel together and tell them, "Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has appeared to me -- the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob -- and has indeed visited you and seen what is being done to you in Egypt,
¹⁷ and has said: I shall bring you out of the misery of Egypt to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a country flowing with milk and honey."
¹⁸ They will listen to your words, and you and the elders of Israel are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, "Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has encountered us. So now please allow us to make a three-days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to Yahweh our God."
¹⁹ I am well aware that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is compelled by a mighty hand;
²⁰ he will not let you go until I have stretched out my arm and struck Egypt with all the wonders I intend to work there.

Psalms 105:5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27

⁵ Remember the marvels he has done, his wonders, the judgements he has spoken.
⁸ He remembers his covenant for ever, the promise he laid down for a thousand generations,
⁹ which he concluded with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
²⁴ He made his people increase in numbers, he gave them more strength than their enemies,
²⁵ whose heart he turned to hate his own people, to double-cross his servants.
²⁶ He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron, the man of his choice.
²⁷ They worked there the wonders he commanded, marvels in the country of Ham.

Mt 11:28-30

²⁸ 'Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.
²⁹ Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
³⁰ Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.'

july 13, 2011 Ex 3:1-6, 9-12 Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7 Mt 11:25-27

Ex 3:1-6, 9-12

¹ Moses was looking after the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led it to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
² The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame blazing from the middle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing, but the bush was not being burnt up.
³ Moses said, 'I must go across and see this strange sight, and why the bush is not being burnt up.'
⁴ When Yahweh saw him going across to look, God called to him from the middle of the bush. 'Moses, Moses!' he said. 'Here I am,' he answered.
⁵ 'Come no nearer,' he said. 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
⁶ I am the God of your ancestors,' he said, 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' At this Moses covered his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
⁹ Yes indeed, the Israelites' cry for help has reached me, and I have also seen the cruel way in which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
¹⁰ So now I am sending you to Pharaoh, for you to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.'
¹¹ Moses said to God, 'Who am I to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?'
¹² 'I shall be with you,' God said, 'and this is the sign by which you will know that I was the one who sent you. After you have led the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.'

Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7

¹ [Of David] Bless Yahweh, my soul, from the depths of my being, his holy name;
² bless Yahweh, my soul, never forget all his acts of kindness.
³ He forgives all your offenses, cures all your diseases,
⁴ he redeems your life from the abyss, crowns you with faithful love and tenderness;
⁶ Yahweh acts with uprightness, with justice to all who are oppressed;
⁷ he revealed to Moses his ways, his great deeds to the children of Israel.

Mt 11:25-27

²⁵ At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children.
²⁶ Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.
²⁷ Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

juli 12, 2011 Ex 2:1-15a Psalms 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34 Mt 11:20-24

Ex 2:1-15a

¹ There was a man descended from Levi who had taken a woman of Levi as his wife.
² She conceived and gave birth to a son and, seeing what a fine child he was, she kept him hidden for three months.
³ When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him; coating it with bitumen and pitch, she put the child inside and laid it among the reeds at the River's edge.
⁴ His sister took up position some distance away to see what would happen to him.
⁵ Now Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe in the river, while her maids walked along the riverside. Among the reeds she noticed the basket, and she sent her maid to fetch it.
⁶ She opened it and saw the child: the baby was crying. Feeling sorry for it, she said, 'This is one of the little Hebrews.'
⁷ The child's sister then said to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Shall I go and find you a nurse among the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?'
⁸ 'Yes,' said Pharaoh's daughter, and the girl went and called the child's own mother.
⁹ Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Take this child away and nurse it for me. I shall pay you myself for doing so.' So the woman took the child away and nursed it.
¹⁰ When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter who treated him like a son; she named him Moses 'because', she said, 'I drew him out of the water.'
¹¹ It happened one day, when Moses was grown up, that he went to see his kinsmen. While he was watching their forced labour he also saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen.
¹² Looking this way and that and seeing no one in sight, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
¹³ On the following day he came back, and there were two Hebrews, fighting. He said to the man who was in the wrong, 'What do you mean by hitting your kinsman?'
¹⁴ 'And who appointed you', the man retorted, 'to be prince over us and judge? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?' Moses was frightened. 'Clearly that business has come to light,' he thought.
¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of the matter, he tried to put Moses to death, but Moses fled from Pharaoh. He went into Midianite territory and sat down beside a well.

Psalms 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34

³ I am exhausted with calling out, my throat is hoarse, my eyes are worn out with searching for my God.
¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire before I sink in; so I shall be saved from those who hate me, from the watery depths.
³⁰ I will praise God's name in song, I will extol him by thanksgiving,
³¹ for this will please Yahweh more than an ox, than a bullock horned and hoofed.
³³ For God listens to the poor, he has never scorned his captive people.
³⁴ Let heaven and earth and seas, and all that stirs in them, acclaim him!

Mt 11:20-24

²⁰ Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.
²¹ 'Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
²² Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgement Day than for you.
²³ And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet.
²⁴ Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.'

July 11, 2011 Ex 1:8-14, 22 Psalms 124:1-3, 4-6, 7-8 Mt 10:34-11:1

Ex 1:8-14, 22

⁸ Then there came to power in Egypt a new king who had never heard of Joseph.
⁹ 'Look,' he said to his people, 'the Israelites are now more numerous and stronger than we are.
¹⁰ We must take precautions to stop them from increasing any further, or if war should break out, they might join the ranks of our enemies. They might take arms against us and then escape from the country.'
¹¹ Accordingly they put taskmasters over the Israelites to wear them down by forced labour. In this way they built the store-cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh.
¹² But the harder their lives were made, the more they increased and spread, until people came to fear the Israelites.
¹³ So the Egyptians gave them no mercy in the demands they made,
¹⁴ making their lives miserable with hard labour: with digging clay, making bricks, doing various kinds of field -- work -- all sorts of labour that they imposed on them without mercy.
²² Pharaoh then gave all his people this command: 'Throw every new-born boy into the river, but let all the girls live.'

Psalms 124:1-3, 4-6, 7-8

¹ [Song of Ascents Of David] If Yahweh had not been on our side -- let Israel repeat it-
² if Yahweh had not been on our side when people attacked us,
³ they would have swallowed us alive in the heat of their anger.
⁴ Then water was washing us away, a torrent running right over us;
⁵ running right over us then were turbulent waters.
⁶ Blessed be Yahweh for not letting us fall a prey to their teeth!
⁷ We escaped like a bird from the fowlers' net. The net was broken and we escaped;
⁸ our help is in the name of Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. 

Mt 10:34-11:1

³⁴ 'Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.
³⁵ For I have come to set son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law;
³⁶ a person's enemies will be the members of his own household.
³⁷ 'No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter to me is worthy of me.
³⁸ Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me.
³⁹ Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
⁴⁰ 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
⁴¹ 'Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet's reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person.
⁴² 'If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.'
¹ When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.

july 10, 2011 Is 55:10-11 Psalms 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14 10 Mt 13:1-23 Rom 8:18-23

Is 55:10-11

¹⁰ For, as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and do not return before having watered the earth, fertilising it and making it germinate to provide seed for the sower and food to eat,
¹¹ so it is with the word that goes from my mouth: it will not return to me unfulfilled or before having carried out my good pleasure and having achieved what it was sent to do.

Psalms 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14

¹⁰ you water its furrows abundantly, level its ridges, soften it with showers and bless its shoots.
¹¹ You crown the year with your generosity, richness seeps from your tracks,
¹² the pastures of the desert grow moist, the hillsides are wrapped in joy,
¹³ the meadows are covered with flocks, the valleys clothed with wheat; they shout and sing for joy.

Mt 13:1-23

¹ That same day, Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside,
² but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the shore,
³ and he told them many things in parables. He said, 'Listen, a sower went out to sow.
⁴ As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up.
⁵ Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up at once, because there was no depth of earth;
⁶ but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away.
⁷ Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
⁸ Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
⁹ Anyone who has ears should listen!'
¹⁰ Then the disciples went up to him and asked, 'Why do you talk to them in parables?'
¹¹ In answer, he said, 'Because to you is granted to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not granted.
¹² Anyone who has will be given more and will have more than enough; but anyone who has not will be deprived even of what he has.
¹³ The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.
¹⁴ So in their case what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah is being fulfilled: Listen and listen, but never understand! Look and look, but never perceive!
¹⁵ This people's heart has grown coarse, their ears dulled, they have shut their eyes tight to avoid using their eyes to see, their ears to hear, their heart to understand, changing their ways and being healed by me.
¹⁶ 'But blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear!
¹⁷ In truth I tell you, many prophets and upright people longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
¹⁸ 'So pay attention to the parable of the sower.
¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the Evil One comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the seed sown on the edge of the path.
²⁰ The seed sown on patches of rock is someone who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy.
²¹ But such a person has no root deep down and does not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, at once he falls away.
²² The seed sown in thorns is someone who hears the word, but the worry of the world and the lure of riches choke the word and so it produces nothing.
²³ And the seed sown in rich soil is someone who hears the word and understands it; this is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.'

Rom 8:18-23

¹⁸ In my estimation, all that we suffer in the present time is nothing in comparison with the glory which is destined to be disclosed for us,
¹⁹ for the whole creation is waiting with eagerness for the children of God to be revealed.
²⁰ It was not for its own purposes that creation had frustration imposed on it, but for the purposes of him who imposed it-
²¹ with the intention that the whole creation itself might be freed from its slavery to corruption and brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God.
²² We are well aware that the whole creation, until this time, has been groaning in labour pains.
²³ And not only that: we too, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we are groaning inside ourselves, waiting with eagerness for our bodies to be set free.

july 9, 2011 Gn 49:29-32; 50:15-26a Psalms 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7 Mt 10:24-33

Gn 49:29-32; 50:15-26a

²⁹ Then he gave them these instructions, 'I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
³⁰ in the cave in the field at Machpelah, facing Mamre, in Canaan, which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site of his own.
³¹ There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. There Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah-
³² the field and the cave in it which were bought from the Hittites.'
¹⁵ Seeing that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers said, 'What if Joseph intends to treat us as enemies and pay us back for all the wrong we did him?'
¹⁶ So they sent this message to Joseph: 'Before your father died, he gave us this order:
¹⁷ "You are to say to Joseph: Now please forgive the crime and faults of your brothers and all the wrong they did you." So now please forgive the crime of the servants of your father's God.' Joseph wept at the message they sent to him.
¹⁸ Then his brothers went to him themselves and, throwing themselves at his feet, said, 'Take us as your slaves!'
¹⁹ But Joseph replied, 'Do not be afraid; is it for me to put myself in God's place?
²⁰ The evil you planned to do me has by God's design been turned to good, to bring about the present result: the survival of a numerous people.
²¹ So there is no need to be afraid; I shall provide for you and your dependants.' In this way he reassured them by speaking affectionately to them.
²² So Joseph stayed in Egypt with his father's family; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.
²³ Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim's line, as also the children of Machir son of Manasseh, who were born on Joseph's lap.
²⁴ At length Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am about to die; but God will be sure to remember you kindly and take you out of this country to the country which he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.'
²⁵ And Joseph put Israel's sons on oath, saying, 'When God remembers you with kindness, be sure to take my bones away from here.'
²⁶ Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten; he was embalmed and laid in a coffin in Egypt.

Psalms 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7

¹ Alleluia! Give thanks to Yahweh, call on his name, proclaim his deeds to the peoples!
² Sing to him, make music for him, recount all his wonders!
³ Glory in his holy name, let the hearts that seek Yahweh rejoice!
⁴ Seek Yahweh and his strength, tirelessly seek his presence!
⁶ Stock of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob whom he chose!
⁷ He is Yahweh our God, his judgements touch the whole world.

Mt 10:24-33

²⁴ 'Disciple is not superior to teacher, nor slave to master.
²⁵ It is enough for disciple to grow to be like teacher, and slave like master. If they have called the master of the house "Beelzebul", how much more the members of his household?
²⁶ 'So do not be afraid of them. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear.
²⁷ What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.
²⁸ 'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
²⁹ Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing.
³⁰ Why, every hair on your head has been counted.
³¹ So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
³² 'So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven.
³³ But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.

July 08, 2011 Gn 46:1-7, 28-30 Psalms 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40 Mt 10:16-23

Gn 46:1-7, 28-30 

So Israel set out with all his possessions. Arriving at Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² God spoke to Israel in a vision at night, 'Jacob, Jacob,' he said. 'Here I am,' he replied.
³ 'I am El, God of your father,' he said. 'Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
⁴ I shall go down to Egypt with you and I myself shall bring you back again, and Joseph's hand will close your eyes.'
⁵ So Jacob left Beersheba. Israel's sons conveyed their father Jacob, their little children and their wives in the waggons Pharaoh had sent to fetch him.
⁶ Taking their livestock and all that they had acquired in Canaan, they arrived in Egypt -- Jacob and all his offspring.
⁷ With him to Egypt, he brought his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters -- all his offspring.
²⁸ Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph, so that Judah might present himself to Joseph in Goshen. When they arrived in Goshen,
²⁹ Joseph had his chariot made ready and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as he appeared he threw his arms round his neck and for a long time wept on his shoulder.
³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, 'Now I can die, now that I have seen you in person and seen you still alive.'

Psalms 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40 

Put your trust in Yahweh and do right, make your home in the land and live secure. ⁴ Make Yahweh your joy and he will give you your heart's desires.
¹⁸ The lives of the just are in Yahweh's care, their birthright will endure for ever;
¹⁹ they will not be put to shame when bad times come, in time of famine they will have plenty.
²⁷ Turn your back on evil and do good, you will have a home for ever,
²⁸ for Yahweh loves justice and will not forsake his faithful. Evil-doers will perish eternally, the descendants of the wicked be annihilated,
³⁹ The upright have Yahweh for their Saviour, their refuge in times of trouble;
⁴⁰ Yahweh helps them and rescues them, he will rescue them from the wicked, and save them 

Mt 10:16-23

¹⁶ Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as snakes and yet innocent as doves.
¹⁷ 'Be prepared for people to hand you over to Sanhedrin and scourge you in their synagogues.
¹⁸ You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles.
¹⁹ But when you are handed over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes,
²⁰ because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.
²¹ 'Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will come forward against their parents and have them put to death.
²² You will be universally hated on account of my name; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved.
²³ If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. In truth I tell you, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes.

July 07, 2011 Gn 44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5 Psalms 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21 Mt 10:7-15

Gn 44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5 

¹⁸ At this, Judah went up to him and said, 'May it please my lord, let your servant have a word privately with my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself.
¹⁹ My lord questioned his servants, "Have you father or brother?"
²⁰ And we said to my lord, "We have an old father, and a younger brother born of his old age. His brother is dead, so he is the only one by that mother now left, and his father loves him."
²¹ Then you said to your servants, "Bring him down to me, so that I can set eyes on him."
²³ But you said to your servants, "If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not be admitted to my presence again."
²⁴ When we went back to your servant my father, we repeated to him what my lord had said.
²⁵ So when our father said, "Go back and get us a little food,"
²⁶ we said, "We cannot go down. We shall go only if our youngest brother is with us for, unless our youngest brother is with us, we shall not be admitted to the man's presence."
²⁷ So your servant our father said to us, "You know that my wife bore me two children.
²⁸ When one of them left me, I supposed that he must have been torn to pieces, and I have never seen him since.
²⁹ If you take this one from me too and any harm comes to him, you will send my white head down to Sheol with grief."
¹ Then Joseph could not control his feelings in front of all his retainers, and he exclaimed, 'Let everyone leave me.' No one therefore was present with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers,
² but he wept so loudly that all the Egyptians heard, and the news reached Pharaoh's palace.
³ Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?' His brothers could not answer him, they were so dumbfounded at seeing him.
⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'Come closer to me.' When they had come closer to him he said, 'I am your brother Joseph whom you sold into Egypt.
⁵ But now, do not grieve, do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here, since God sent me before you to preserve your lives. 

Psalms 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21

¹⁶ He called down famine on the land, he took away their food supply;
¹⁷ he sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, sold as a slave.
¹⁸ So his feet were weighed down with shackles, his neck was put in irons.
¹⁹ In due time his prophecy was fulfilled, the word of Yahweh proved him true.
²⁰ The king sent orders to release him, the ruler of nations set him free;
²¹ he put him in charge of his household, the ruler of all he possessed, 

Mt 10:7-15 

⁷ And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.
⁸ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those suffering from virulent skin-diseases, drive out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.
⁹ Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with coppers for your purses,
¹⁰ with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the laborer deserves his keep.
¹¹ 'Whatever town or village you go into, seek out someone worthy and stay with him until you leave.
¹² As you enter his house, salute it,
¹³ and if the house deserves it, may your peace come upon it; if it does not, may your peace come back to you.
¹⁴ And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet.
¹⁵ In truth I tell you, on the Day of Judgement it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

July 06, 2011 Gn 41:55-57; 42:5-7a, 17-24a Psalms 33:2-3, 10-11, 18-19 Mt 10:1-7

Gn 41:55-57; 42:5-7a, 17-24a 

⁵⁵ But when all Egypt too began to feel the famine and the people appealed to Pharaoh for food, Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, 'Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.'
⁵⁶ There was famine all over the world. Then Joseph opened all the granaries and rationed out grain to the Egyptians, as the famine grew even worse in Egypt.
⁵⁷ People came to Egypt from all over the world to get supplies from Joseph, for the famine had grown severe throughout the world.
⁵ Thus the sons of Israel were among the other people who came to get supplies, there being famine in Canaan.
⁶ It was Joseph, as the man in authority over the country, who allocated the rations to the entire population. So Joseph's brothers went and bowed down before him, their faces touching the ground.
⁷ As soon as Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them. But he did not make himself known to them, and he spoke harshly to them. 'Where have you come from?' he asked. 'From Canaan to get food,' they replied.
¹⁷ Whereupon, he put them all into custody for three days.
¹⁸ On the third day Joseph said to them, 'Do this and you will live, for I am a man who fears God.
¹⁹ If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be detained where you are imprisoned; the rest of you, go and take supplies home for your starving families.
²⁰ But you must bring your youngest brother back to me; in this way, what you have said will be verified, and you will not have to die!' And this is what they did.
²¹ And they said to one another, 'Clearly, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep misery when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen, and now this misery has come home to us.'
²² Reuben retorted to them, 'Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you would not listen. Now comes the accounting.'
²³ They did not know that Joseph understood, because there was an interpreter between them.
²⁴ He turned away from them and wept. When he was able to speak to them again, he chose Simeon out of their number and had him bound while they looked on.

Psalms 33:2-3, 10-11, 18-19 

² Give thanks to Yahweh on the lyre, play for him on the ten-stringed lyre.
³ Sing to him a new song, make sweet music for your cry of victory.
¹⁰ Yahweh thwarts the plans of nations, frustrates the counsels of peoples;
¹¹ but Yahweh's own plan stands firm for ever, his heart's counsel from age to age.
¹⁸ But see how Yahweh watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his faithful love,
¹⁹ to rescue them from death and keep them alive in famine.

Mt 10:1-7 

  He summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to drive them out and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness.

² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who was also his betrayer.
⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: 'Do not make your way to gentile territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town;
⁶ go instead to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.
⁷ And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.