Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 25^[a]

Of David.

¹⁴ So Pharaoh summoned Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed clothes, and appeared before Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, but no one could interpret it. Then I heard that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It’s not me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable response.”

¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile. ¹⁸ In front of me, seven fattened, stout cows climbed up out of the Nile and grazed on the reeds. ¹⁹ Just then, seven other cows, weak and frail and thin, climbed up after them. I’ve never seen such awful cows in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ Then the thin, frail cows devoured the first seven, fattened cows. ²¹ But after they swallowed them whole, no one would have known it. They looked just as bad as they had before. Then I woke up. ²² I went to sleep again^[a] and saw in my dream seven full and healthy ears of grain growing on one stalk. ²³ Just then, seven hard and thin ears of grain, scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them, ²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed up the healthy ears. I told the religious experts,^[b] but they couldn’t explain it to me.”

²⁵ Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh has actually had one dream. God has announced to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven healthy cows are seven years, and the seven healthy ears of grain are seven years. It’s actually one dream. ²⁷ The seven thin and frail cows, climbing up after them, are seven years. The seven thin ears of grain, scorched by the east wind, are seven years of famine. ²⁸ It’s just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ Seven years of great abundance are now coming throughout the entire land of Egypt. ³⁰ After them, seven years of famine will appear, and all of the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land. ³¹ No one will remember the abundance in the land because the famine that follows will be so very severe. ³² The dream occurred to Pharaoh twice because God has determined to do it, and God will make it happen soon.

Joseph’s rise to power

³³ “Now Pharaoh should find an intelligent, wise man and give him authority over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Then Pharaoh should appoint administrators over the land and take one-fifth of all the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ During the good years that are coming, they should collect all such food and store the grain under Pharaoh’s control, protecting the food in the cities. ³⁶ This food will be reserved for the seven years of famine to follow in the land of Egypt so that the land won’t be ravaged by the famine.”

Showing faith

¹⁴ My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? ¹⁵ Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. ¹⁶ What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity.

¹⁸ Someone might claim, “You have faith and I have action.” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action. ¹⁹ It’s good that you believe that God is one. Ha! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear. ²⁰ Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all? ²¹ What about Abraham, our father? Wasn’t he shown to be righteous through his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² See, his faith was at work along with his actions. In fact, his faith was made complete by his faithful actions. ²³ So the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and God regarded him as righteous.^[a] What is more, Abraham was called God’s friend. ²⁴ So you see that a person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone. ²⁵ In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute shown to be righteous when she received the messengers as her guests and then sent them on by another road? ²⁶ As the lifeless body is dead, so faith without actions is dead.