Daily Mass Readings for July 18, 2024: Gospel — Mt 11, 28-30

⁷ The way of the righteous is level, the path of the righteous that you prepare is straight. ⁸ Yes, as your judgments unfold, O Lord, we wait for you. We desire your fame and reputation to grow. ⁹ I look for you during the night; my spirit within me seeks you at dawn; for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice. 1 2 :¹ At that time you will say: “I praise you, O Lord, for even though you were angry with me, your anger subsided, and you consoled me. ² Look, God is my deliverer! I will trust in him and not fear. For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; he has become my deliverer.” ³ Joyfully you will draw water from the springs of deliverance. ⁴ At that time you will say: “Praise the Lord! Ask him for help! Publicize his mighty acts among the nations. Make it known that he is unique. ⁵ Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things; let this be known throughout the earth. ⁶ Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel acts mightily among you!” 1 6 :¹ Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the wilderness to the hill of Daughter Zion. ² At the fords of the Arnon the Moabite women are like a bird that flies about when forced from its nest. ³ “Bring a plan, make a decision. Provide some shade in the middle of the day. Hide the fugitives! Do not betray the one who tries to escape. ⁴ Please let the Moabite fugitives live among you. Hide them from the destroyer!” Certainly the one who applies pressure will cease; the destroyer will come to an end; those who trample will disappear from the earth. ⁵ Then a trustworthy king will be established; he will rule in a reliable manner, this one from David’s family. He will be sure to make just decisions and will be experienced in executing justice. ⁶ We have heard about Moab’s pride— their great arrogance— their boasting, pride, and excess. But their boastful claims are empty. ⁷ So Moab wails over its demise— they all wail! Completely devastated, they moan about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. ⁸ For the fields of Heshbon are dried up, as well as the vines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines, which reach Jazer and spread to the wilderness; their shoots spread out and cross the sea. ⁹ So I weep along with Jazer over the vines of Sibmah. I will saturate you with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh, for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly over your fruit and crops. 1 ⁰ Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards, and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts; no one treads out juice in the wine vats— I have brought the joyful shouts to an end. 1 ¹ So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, my inner being sighs for Kir Hareseth. 1 ² When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective. 1 ³ This is the message the Lord previously announced about Moab. 1 ⁴ Now the Lord makes this announcement: “Within exactly three years Moab’s splendor will disappear, along with all her many people; there will be only a few insignificant survivors left.” 1 7 :¹ This is an oracle about Damascus: “Look, Damascus is no longer a city, it is a heap of ruins! ² The cities of Aroer are abandoned. They will be used for herds, which will lie down there in peace. ³ Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, and Damascus will lose its kingdom. The survivors in Syria will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁴ “At that time Jacob’s splendor will be greatly diminished, and he will become skin and bones. ⁵ It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest and his hand gleans the ear of grain. It will be like one gathering the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. ⁶ There will be some left behind, as when an olive tree is beaten— two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top, four or five on its fruitful branches,” says the Lord God of Israel. ⁷ At that time men will trust in their Creator; they will depend on the Holy One of Israel. ⁸ They will no longer trust in the altars their hands made, or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made. ⁹ At that time their fortified cities will be like the abandoned summits of the Amorites, which they abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation. 1 ⁰ For you ignore the God who rescues you; you pay no attention to your strong protector. So this is what happens: You cultivate beautiful plants and plant exotic vines. 1 ¹ The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout. Yet the harvest will disappear in the day of disease and incurable pain. 1 ² Beware, you many nations massing together, those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. Beware, you people making such an uproar, those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. 1 ³ Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, when he shouts at them, they will flee to a distant land, driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills or like dead thistles before a strong gale. 1 ⁴ In the evening there is sudden terror; by morning they vanish. This is the fate of those who try to plunder us, the destiny of those who try to loot us! 1 8 :¹ Beware, land of buzzing wings, the one beyond the rivers of Cush, ² that sends messengers by sea, who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus. Go, you swift messengers, to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, to a people that are feared far and wide, to a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide. ³ All you who live in the world, who reside on the earth, you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains; you will hear a trumpet being blown. ⁴ For this is what the Lord has told me: “I will wait and watch from my place, like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, like a cloud of mist in the heat of harvest.” ⁵ For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted and the ripening fruit appears, he will cut off the unproductive shoots with pruning knives; he will prune the tendrils. ⁶ They will all be left for the birds of the hills and the wild animals; the birds will eat them during the summer, and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter. ⁷ At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned, a people that are feared far and wide, a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide. The tribute will be brought to the place where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion. 1 9 :¹ This is an oracle about Egypt: Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud and approaches Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him; the Egyptians lose their courage. ² “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt: brothers will fight with one another, as will neighbors, cities, and kingdoms. ³ The Egyptians will panic, and I will confuse their strategy. They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ⁴ I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master; a powerful king will rule over them,” says the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁵ The water of the sea will be dried up, and the river will dry up and be empty. ⁶ The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and then dry up; the bulrushes and reeds will decay, ⁷ along with the plants by the mouth of the river. All the cultivated land near the river will turn to dust and be blown away. ⁸ The fishermen will mourn and lament; all those who cast a fishhook into the river, and those who spread out a net on the water’s surface will grieve. ⁹ Those who make clothes from combed flax will be embarrassed; those who weave will turn pale. 1 ⁰ Those who make cloth will be demoralized; all the hired workers will be depressed. 1 ¹ The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice. How dare you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the sages, one well versed in the writings of the ancient kings”? 1 ² But where, oh where, are your wise men? Let them tell you, let them find out what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has planned for Egypt. 1 ³ The officials of Zoan are fools, the officials of Memphis are misled; the rulers of her tribes lead Egypt astray. 1 ⁴ The Lord has made them undiscerning; they lead Egypt astray in all she does, so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit. 1 ⁵ Egypt will not be able to do a thing, head or tail, shoots or stalk. 1 ⁶ At that time the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because the Lord of Heaven’s Armies brandishes his fist against them. 1 ⁷ The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is planning to do to them. 1 ⁸ At that time five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. One will be called the City of the Sun. 1 ⁹ At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a sacred pillar dedicated to the Lord at its border. 2 ⁰ It will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender who will rescue them. 2 ¹ The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they will acknowledge the Lord’s authority at that time. They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. 2 ² The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and then healing them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will listen to their prayers and heal them. 2 ³ At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 2 ⁴ At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing in the earth. 2 ⁵ The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, Israel!”