Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Wicked People and a Good God
For the director of music. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
36 Sin speaks to the wicked in their hearts.
They have no fear of God.
2 They think too much of themselves
so they don’t see their sin and hate it.
3 Their words are wicked lies;
they are no longer wise or good.
4 At night they make evil plans;
what they do leads to nothing good.
They don’t refuse things that are evil.
5 Lord, your love reaches to the heavens,
your loyalty to the skies.
6 Your goodness is as high as the mountains.
Your justice is as deep as the great ocean.
Lord, you protect both people and animals.
7 God, your love is so precious!
You protect people in the shadow of your wings.
8 They eat the rich food in your house,
and you let them drink from your river of pleasure.
9 You are the giver of life.
Your light lets us enjoy life.
10 Continue to love those who know you
and to do good to those who are good.
11 Don’t let proud people attack me
and the wicked force me away.
12 Those who do evil have been defeated.
They are overwhelmed;
they cannot do evil any longer.
Joseph Reveals Who He Is
45 Joseph could not control himself in front of his servants any longer, so he cried out, “Have everyone leave me.” When only the brothers were left with Joseph, he told them who he was. 2 Joseph cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and the people in the king’s palace heard about it. 3 He 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 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. 5 Now don’t be worried or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me here ahead of you to save people’s lives. 6 No food has grown on the land for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest. 7 So God sent me here ahead of you to make sure you have some descendants left on earth and to keep you alive in an amazing way. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. God has made me the highest officer of the king of Egypt. I am in charge of his palace, and I am the master 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 over all Egypt. Come down to me quickly. 10 Live in the land of Goshen 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 you during the next five years of hunger so that you and your family and all that you have will not starve.’
12 “Now you can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that the one speaking to you is really Joseph. 13 So tell my father about how powerful I have become in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen. Now hurry and bring him back to me.” 14 Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin and cried, and Benjamin cried also. 15 And Joseph kissed all his brothers and cried as he hugged them. After this, his brothers talked with him.
9 “Jacob’s sons became jealous of Joseph and sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10 and saved him from all his troubles. The king of Egypt liked Joseph and respected him because of the wisdom God gave him. The king made him governor of Egypt and put him in charge of all the people in his palace.
11 “Then all the land of Egypt and Canaan became so dry that nothing would grow, and the people suffered very much. Jacob’s sons, our ancestors, could not find anything to eat. 12 But when Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent his sons there. This was their first trip to Egypt. 13 When they went there a second time, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and the king learned about Joseph’s family. 14 Then Joseph sent messengers to invite Jacob, his father, to come to Egypt along with all his relatives (seventy-five persons altogether). 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and his sons died. 16 Later their bodies were moved to Shechem and put in a grave there. (It was the same grave Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.)
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.