Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 25^[a]

Of David.

³⁷ This advice seemed wise to Pharaoh and all his servants, ³⁸ and Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man with more God-given gifts^[a] than this one?” ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, no one is as intelligent and wise as you are. ⁴⁰ You will be in charge of my kingdom,^[b] and all my people will obey^[c] your command. Only as the enthroned king will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Know this: I’ve given you authority over the entire land of Egypt.” ⁴² Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, he dressed him in linen clothes, and he put a gold necklace around his neck. ⁴³ He put Joseph on the chariot of his second-in-command, and everyone in front of him cried out, “Attention!”^[d] So Pharaoh installed him over the entire land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh; no one will do anything or go anywhere in all the land of Egypt without your permission.” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh renamed Joseph, Zaphenath-paneah, and married him to Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of Heliopolis.^[e]

Then Joseph assumed control of the land of Egypt. ⁴⁶ Joseph was 30 years old when he began to serve Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, when he left Pharaoh’s court and traveled through the entire land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven years of abundance, the land produced plentifully. ⁴⁸ He collected all of the food during the seven years of abundance^[f] in the land of Egypt, and stored the food in cities. In each city, he stored the food from the fields surrounding it. ⁴⁹ Joseph amassed grain like the sand of the sea. There was so much that he stopped trying to measure it because it was beyond measuring.

⁹ “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him into slavery in Egypt. God was with him, however, ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles. The grace and wisdom he gave Joseph were recognized by Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole palace. ¹¹ A famine came upon all Egypt and Canaan, and great hardship came with it. Our ancestors had nothing to eat. ¹² When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there for the first time. ¹³ During their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. ¹⁴ Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives—seventy-five in all—and invited them to live with him. ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. ¹⁶ Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had purchased for a certain sum of money from Hamor’s children, who lived in Shechem.