Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
(For the music leader by David, the Lord's servant.)
Human Sin and God's Goodness
1 (A) Sinners don't respect God;
sin is all they think about.
2 They like themselves too much
to hate their own sins
or even to see them.
3 They tell deceitful lies,
and they don't have the sense
to live right.
4 Those people stay awake,
thinking up mischief,
and they follow the wrong road,
refusing to turn from sin.
5 Your love is faithful, Lord,
and even the clouds in the sky
can depend on you.
6 Your decisions are always fair.
They are firm like mountains,
deep like the sea,
and all people and animals
are under your care.
7 Your love is a treasure,
and everyone finds shelter
in the shadow of your wings.
8 You give your guests a feast
in your house,
and you serve a tasty drink
that flows like a river.
9 The life-giving fountain
belongs to you,
and your light gives light
to each of us.
10 Our Lord, keep showing love
to everyone who knows you,
and use your power to save all
whose thoughts please you.
11 Don't let those proud
and merciless people
kick me around
or chase me away.
12 Look at those wicked people!
They are knocked down,
never to get up again.
A Famine in Egypt
13 The famine was bad everywhere in Egypt and Canaan, and the people were suffering terribly. 14 So Joseph sold them the grain that had been stored up, and he put the money[a] in the king's treasury. 15 But when everyone had run out of money, the Egyptians came to Joseph and demanded, “Give us more grain! If you don't, we'll soon be dead, because our money's all gone.”
16 “If you don't have any money,” Joseph answered, “give me your animals, and I'll let you have some grain.” 17 From then on, they brought him their horses and donkeys and their sheep and goats in exchange for grain.
Within a year Joseph had collected every animal in Egypt. 18 Then the people came to him and said:
Sir, there's no way we can hide the truth from you. We are broke, and we don't have any more animals. We have nothing left except ourselves and our land. 19 Don't let us starve and our land be ruined. If you'll give us grain to eat and seed to plant, we'll sell ourselves and our land to the king.[b] We'll become his slaves.
20 The famine became so severe that Joseph finally bought every piece of land in Egypt for the king 21 and made everyone the king's slaves,[c] 22 except the priests. The king gave the priests a regular food allowance, so they did not have to sell their land. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, “You and your land now belong to the king. I'm giving you seed to plant, 24 but one fifth of your crops must go to the king. You can keep the rest as seed or as food for your families.”
25 “Sir, you have saved our lives!” they answered. “We are glad to be slaves of the king.” 26 Then Joseph made a law that one fifth of the harvest would always belong to the king. Only the priests did not lose their land.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod
(Matthew 16.5-12)
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 (A) Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”[a]
16 The disciples talked this over and said to each other, “He must be saying this because we don't have any bread.”
17 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you talking about not having any bread? Don't you understand? Are your minds still closed? 18 (B) Are your eyes blind and your ears deaf? Don't you remember 19 how many baskets of leftovers you picked up when I fed those 5,000 people with only five small loaves of bread?”
“Yes,” the disciples answered. “There were twelve baskets.”
20 Jesus then asked, “And how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up when I broke seven small loaves of bread for those 4,000 people?”
“Seven,” they answered.
21 “Don't you know what I am talking about by now?” Jesus asked.
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