Daily Readings for Saturday July 24, 2010

Reading 1, Jer 7:1-11

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,

² 'Stand at the gate of the Temple of Yahweh and there proclaim this message. Say, "Listen to the word of Yahweh, all you of Judah who come in by these gates to worship Yahweh.

³ Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this: Amend your behaviour and your actions and I will let you stay in this place.

⁴ Do not put your faith in delusive words, such as: This is Yahweh's sanctuary, Yahweh's sanctuary, Yahweh's sanctuary!

⁵ But if you really amend your behaviour and your actions, if you really treat one another fairly,

⁶ if you do not exploit the stranger, the orphan and the widow, if you do not shed innocent blood in this place and if you do not follow other gods, to your own ruin,

⁷ then I shall let you stay in this place, in the country I gave for ever to your ancestors of old.

⁸ Look, you are putting your faith in delusive, worthless words!

⁹ Steal, would you, murder, commit adultery, perjure yourselves, burn incense to Baal, follow other gods of whom you know nothing? -

¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this Temple that bears my name, saying: Now we are safe to go on doing all these loathsome things!

¹¹ Do you look on this Temple that bears my name as a den of bandits? I, at any rate, can see straight, Yahweh declares.

Gospel, Mt 13:24-30

²⁴ He put another parable before them, 'The kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

²⁵ While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off.

²⁶ When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, then the darnel appeared as well.

²⁷ The owner's labourers went to him and said, "Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?"

²⁸ He said to them, "Some enemy has done this." And the labourers said, "Do you want us to go and weed it out?"

²⁹ But he said, "No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it.

³⁰ Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn." '