Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise to the Lord of Love
Of David.
103 ·All that I am [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord;
·everything in me [L all my inward parts], ·praise [bless] his holy name.
2 ·My whole being [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord
and do not forget all his ·kindnesses [gifts; benefits].
3 He forgives all ·my [or your] ·sins [iniquity]
and heals all ·my [or your] ·diseases [ills].
4 He ·saves [redeems] ·my [or your] life from the ·grave [L pit]
and ·loads [or crowns] ·me [or you] with ·love [loyalty] and ·mercy [compassion].
5 He satisfies ·me [or you] with good things [L as long as you live; or according to your desires]
and ·makes me young again [L renews your youth], like the eagle [Is. 40:31].
6 The Lord does what is ·right [righteous] and ·fair [just]
for all who are ·wronged by others [oppressed; exploited].
7 He ·showed [revealed] his ways to Moses [Ex. 34:5–7]
and his deeds to the ·people [sons] of Israel.
8 The Lord shows ·mercy [compassion] and ·is kind [grace].
He ·does not become angry quickly [is slow to anger], and he has great ·love [loyalty; 86:15; 145:8–9; Ex. 34:6–7; Neh. 9:17. 31; Joel 2:13; Jon. 4:2].
9 He will not always ·accuse [charge; contend with] us,
and he will not ·be angry forever [L keep watch forever].
10 He ·has not punished us as our sins should be punished [L does not act toward us according to our sins];
he has not repaid us ·for the evil we have done [L according to our iniquity].
11 As high as the ·sky [heaven] is above the earth,
so great is his ·love [loyalty] for those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7].
12 He has taken our ·sins [transgressions] away from us
as far as the east is from west.
13 The Lord has ·mercy [compassion] on those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7],
as a father has ·mercy [compassion] on his children.
Joseph Reveals Who He Is
45 Joseph could not ·control [or express] himself in front of ·his servants [L all those standing around him] any longer, so he cried out, “Have everyone leave me.” ·When only the brothers were left with Joseph [L So no one was standing around him when], he ·told them who he was [L revealed himself to his brothers]. 2 Joseph cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and the ·people in the king’s palace [L house of Pharaoh] heard about it. 3 ·He [L Joseph] said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But the brothers could not answer him, because they were ·very afraid of [or startled by] him.
4 So Joseph said to them, “Come close to me.” When the brothers came close to him, he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold as a slave to go to Egypt [37:25–28]. 5 Now don’t be ·worried [in anguish; distressed] or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me here ahead of you to ·save [preserve] people’s lives. 6 ·No food has grown on the land [L The famine has been in the land] for two years now, and there will be five more years without ·planting [L plowing] or harvest. 7 So God sent me here ahead of you to ·make sure you have some descendants left [L preserve a remnant for you] on earth and to keep you alive in ·an amazing way [L a great deliverance]. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God [50:19–20]. God has made me ·the highest officer of the king of Egypt [L father to Pharaoh]. I am ·in charge [master; lord] of his palace, and I am the ·master [ruler] of all the land of Egypt.
9 “So leave quickly and go to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: God has made me ·master [lord] over all Egypt. Come down to me ·quickly [without delay]. 10 Live in the land of Goshen [C the northeast area of the Nile Delta] where you will be near me. Your children, your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have will also be near me. 11 I will ·care for [sustain; maintain] you ·during the next five years of hunger [L for there are still five years of famine] so that you and your family and all that you have will not ·starve [L become impoverished].’
12 “Now you can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that ·the one speaking to you is really Joseph [L my mouth is speaking to you]. 13 So tell my father about ·how powerful I have become [L my glory/prestige/status] in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen. Now hurry and bring him back to me.” 14 Then Joseph ·hugged [L fell on the neck of] his brother Benjamin and cried, and Benjamin cried ·also [L on his neck]. 15 And Joseph kissed all his brothers and cried ·as he hugged them [L over them]. After this, his brothers talked with him.
16 When the king of Egypt and his ·officers [servants] ·learned [L heard the report] that Joseph’s brothers had come, ·they were very happy [L it was good in their eyes]. 17 So ·the king [L Pharaoh] said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their ·animals [donkeys] and go back to the land of Canaan 18 and bring their father and their ·families [L households] back here to me. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they will eat the ·best food we have here [L fat of the land; Ezek. 34:3; 39:19]. 19 ·Tell [Command] them to take some wagons from Egypt for their ·children [little ones] and their wives and to bring their father back also. 20 Tell them not to ·worry [be troubled] about bringing any of their things with them, because we will give them the best of what we have in Egypt.”
7 “And when you pray, don’t be like ·those people who don’t know God [the pagans/Gentiles/heathen]. They ·continue saying things that mean nothing [babble; repeat empty phrases], thinking ·that God will hear them [L they will be heard; C the passive verb implies God as subject] because of their many words. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him. 9 So when you pray, you should pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven,
·may your name always be kept holy [T Hallowed be your name].
10 May your kingdom come
·and what you want [Your will] be done,
here on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us ·the food we need for each day [T today our daily bread].
12 Forgive us for our ·sins [L debts],
just as we have forgiven ·those who sinned against us [L our debtors; C sin is pictured as a debt owed].
13 And ·do not cause us to be tempted [T lead us not into temptation; or do not put us to the test],
but ·save [rescue; deliver] us from ·the Evil One [or evil].’
|The kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours forever. Amen.|[a]
14 ·Yes, [For] if you forgive others for their ·sins [transgressions; failings; trespasses], your Father in heaven will also forgive you. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father in heaven will not forgive your ·sins [transgressions; failings; trespasses].
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