Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise for God’s Love
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul. And all that is within me, praise His holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul. And forget none of His acts of kindness. 3 He forgives all my sins. He heals all my diseases. 4 He saves my life from the grave. He crowns me with loving-kindness and pity. 5 He fills my years with good things and I am made young again like the eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair for all who suffer under a bad power. 7 He made His ways known to Moses and His acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is full of loving-pity and kindness. He is slow to anger and has much loving-kindness. 9 He will not always keep after us. And He will not keep His anger back forever. 10 He has not punished us enough for all our sins. He has not paid us back for all our wrong-doings. 11 For His loving-kindness for those who fear Him is as great as the heavens are high above the earth. 12 He has taken our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. 13 The Lord has loving-pity on those who fear Him, as a father has loving-pity on his children.
53 The seven good years of much food in the land of Egypt came to an end. 54 And the seven bad years of no food began, as Joseph had said. No food was growing in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was food. 55 So when all the people of Egypt were hungry, they cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do what he tells you.” 56 When the hunger was spreading over all the earth, Joseph opened the store-houses. And he sold food to the Egyptians for the time without food had become hard in the land of Egypt. 57 The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the time without food was hard everywhere.
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
42 Now Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt. He said to his sons, “Why are you looking at one another?” 2 And he said, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go there and buy some for us, so we may live and not die.” 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers. For he said, “I am afraid that something will happen to him.”
Joseph’s Brothers Bow before Him
5 So the sons of Israel joined those who were coming to buy grain for there was no food in Canaan. 6 Joseph was the ruler of the land. He was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed to the ground in front of him. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were. But he acted like a stranger and spoke sharp words to them. He said, “Where have you come from?” They answered, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
8 Joseph knew his brothers but they did not know him. 9 Joseph remembered the dreams he had had about them. He said to them, “You are spies. You have come to find the weak places in our land.” 10 They said to him, “No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. We do not lie. Your servants are not working against you in secret.”
12 He said to them, “No! You have come to find the weak places in our land!” 13 But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father. And one is no more.” 14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said. You are spies. 15 You will be put to a test. By the life of Pharaoh, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you to bring your brother, and the rest of you will be kept in prison. Your words will be put to a test to see if you are telling the truth. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are spies for sure.”
17 He put them all together in prison for three days.
9 “The sons of Jacob sold Joseph to people from the country of Egypt because they were jealous of him. But God was with Joseph. 10 He helped him in all his troubles. He gave him wisdom and favor with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. This king made Joseph leader over Egypt and over all the king’s house.
11 “The time came when there was no food to eat in all the land of Egypt and Canaan. The people suffered much. Our early fathers were not able to get food. 12 Then Jacob heard there was food in Egypt. He sent our early fathers there the first time.
13 “The second time they went to the country of Egypt, Joseph made himself known to his brothers. The family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. 14 Joseph asked his father Jacob and all his family to come. There were seventy-five people in the family. 15 Jacob moved down to Egypt and died there. Our early fathers died there also. 16 They were brought back to the city of Shechem where they were buried. Abraham paid money for the grave from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
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