Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the director: A song of David, the Lord’s servant.
36 Deep in the hearts of the wicked a voice tells them to do wrong.
They have no respect for God.
2 They lie to themselves.
They don’t see their own faults,
so they are not sorry for what they do.
3 Their words are wicked lies.
They have stopped doing anything wise or good.
4 They make wicked plans in bed at night.
They choose a way of life that does no good.
And they never say no to anything evil.
5 Lord, your faithful love reaches to the sky.
Your faithfulness is as high as the clouds.
6 Your goodness is higher than the highest mountains.
Your fairness is deeper than the deepest ocean.
Lord, you protect people and animals.
7 Nothing is more precious than your loving kindness.
All people can find protection close to you.
8 They get strength from all the good things in your house.
You let them drink from your wonderful river.
9 The fountain of life flows from you.
Your light lets us see light.
10 Continue to love those who really know you,
and do good to those who are true to you.[a]
11 Don’t let proud people trap me.
Don’t let the wicked force me to run away.
12 Put this on their grave markers:
“Here fell the wicked.
They were crushed.
They will never stand up again.”
Jacob Lets Benjamin Go to Egypt
43 The famine was very bad in that country. 2 The people ate all the grain they had brought from Egypt. When that grain was gone, Jacob said to his sons, “Go to Egypt and buy some more grain for us to eat.”
3 But Judah said to Jacob, “But the governor of that country warned us. He said, ‘If you don’t bring your brother back to me, I will refuse to talk to you.’ 4 If you send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy grain. 5 But if you refuse to send Benjamin, we will not go. The man warned us to not come back without him.”
6 Israel said, “Why did you tell him you had another brother? Why did you do such a bad thing to me?”
7 The brothers answered, “He asked lots of questions. He wanted to know all about us and about our family. He asked us, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother at home?’ We only answered his questions. We didn’t know he would ask us to bring our brother to him!”
8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Let Benjamin go with me. I will take care of him. We have to go to Egypt to get food. If we don’t go, we will all die—including our children. 9 I will make sure he is safe. I will be responsible for him. If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me forever. 10 If you had let us go before, we could have already made two trips for food.”
11 Then their father Israel said, “If it is really true, take Benjamin with you. But take some gifts to the governor. Take some of the things we have been able to gather in our land. Take him some honey, pistachio nuts, almonds, spices, and myrrh. 12 Take twice as much money with you this time. Take the money that was given back to you after you paid last time. Maybe the governor made a mistake. 13 Take Benjamin, and go back to the man. 14 I pray that God All-Powerful will help you when you stand before the governor. I pray that he will let Benjamin, and also Simeon, come back safely. If not, I will again be sad from losing my children.”
15 So the brothers took the gifts to give to the governor. And the brothers took twice as much money with them as they took the first time. This time Benjamin went with the brothers to Egypt.
Seven Men Chosen for a Special Work
6 More and more people were becoming followers of Jesus. But during this same time, the Greek-speaking followers began to complain against the other Jewish followers. They said that their widows were not getting their share of what the followers received every day. 2 The twelve apostles called the whole group of followers together.
The apostles said to them, “It would not be right for us to give up our work of teaching God’s word in order to be in charge of getting food to people. 3 So, brothers and sisters, choose seven of your men who have a good reputation. They must be full of wisdom and the Spirit. We will give them this work to do. 4 Then we can use all our time to pray and to teach the word of God.”
5 The whole group liked the idea. So they chose these seven men: Stephen (a man with great faith and full of the Holy Spirit), Philip,[a] Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus (a man from Antioch who had become a Jew). 6 Then they put these men before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.[b]
7 The word of God was reaching more and more people. The group of followers in Jerusalem became larger and larger. Even a big group of Jewish priests believed and obeyed.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International