Bible Readings - July 11, 2025

Reading 1

Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30

Israel set out with all that was his.

When he arrived at Beer-sheba,

he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

There God, speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called,

"Jacob! Jacob!"

He answered, "Here I am."

Then he said: "I am God, the God of your father.

Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt,

for there I will make you a great nation.

Not only will I go down to Egypt with you;

I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes."

So Jacob departed from Beer-sheba,

and the sons of Israel

put their father and their wives and children

on the wagons that Pharaoh had sent for his transport.

They took with them their livestock

and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan.

Thus Jacob and all his descendants migrated to Egypt.

His sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters—

all his descendants—he took with him to Egypt.

Israel had sent Judah ahead to Joseph,

so that he might meet him in Goshen.

On his arrival in the region of Goshen,

Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot

and rode to meet his father Israel in Goshen.

As soon as Joseph saw him, he flung himself on his neck

and wept a long time in his arms.

And Israel said to Joseph, "At last I can die,

now that I have seen for myself that Joseph is still alive."

Psalm 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40

Trust in the LORD and do good,

that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.

Take delight in the LORD,

and he will grant you your heart's requests.

The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted;

their inheritance lasts forever.

They are not put to shame in an evil time;

in days of famine they have plenty.

Turn from evil and do good,

that you may abide forever;

For the LORD loves what is right,

and forsakes not his faithful ones.

The salvation of the just is from the LORD;

he is their refuge in time of distress.

And the LORD helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.

John 16:13-14

But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.

He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears,

and will declare to you the things that are coming.

He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine

and declare it to you.

Gospel

Matthew 10:16-23

"Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;

so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.

But beware of men,

for they will hand you over to courts

and scourge you in their synagogues,

and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake

as a witness before them and the pagans.

When they hand you over,

do not worry about how you are to speak

or what you are to say.

You will be given at that moment what you are to say.

For it will not be you who speak

but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Brother will hand over brother to death,

and the father his child;

children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

You will be hated by all because of my name,

but whoever endures to the end will be saved.

When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.

Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel

before the Son of Man comes."