Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
As a Father Has Compassion
Psalm 103
1 Of David.
Bless Adonai, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless His holy Name.
2 Bless Adonai, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits:
3 He forgives all your iniquity.
He heals all your diseases.
4 He redeems your life from the Pit.
He crowns you with lovingkindness and compassions.
5 He satisfies your years with good things,
so that your youth is renewed like an eagle.
6 Adonai executes justice—
judgments for all who are oppressed.
7 He made His ways known to Moses,
His deeds to the children of Israel.
8 Adonai is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, and plentiful in mercy.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not treated us according to our sins,
or repaid us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His mercy for those who fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so Adonai has compassion on those who fear Him.
Joseph Betrayed
12 Then his brothers went to graze their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers grazing the flocks in Shechem? Come, let me send you to them.”
“Here I am,” he said to him.
14 Then he said to him, “Go now, and check on the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flocks and bring word back to me.”
So he sent him from the valley of Hebron and he went to Shechem. 15 A man found him there, wandering in the field, and the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 “I’m looking for my brothers,” he said. “Please tell me where they’re grazing.”
17 The man said, “They moved on from here. For I heard them saying, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18 Now they saw him from a distance. Before he was close to them they plotted together against him in order to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes the master of dreams! 20 Come on now! Let’s kill him and throw him into one of those pits, so we can say that an evil animal devoured him. Then let’s see what becomes of his dreams.”
21 But Reuben heard and rescued him out of their hands, saying, “We must not beat him to death.” 22 In order to rescue him from their hand and to return him to his father, Reuben said to them, “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him!”
23 So as soon as Joseph came up to his brothers they stripped Joseph of his tunic (the long sleeved tunic that he had on). 24 Then they took him and threw him into the pit. (Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.)
25 Then they sat down to eat bread. When they looked up, behold, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balsam, and myrrh—going to bring them down to Egypt.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come on! 27 Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let’s not lay our hand on him—since he’s our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 28 When some men, Midianite merchants, passed by, they dragged Joseph up and out of the pit and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph to Egypt. 29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. 30 Then he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! And I—where should I go?”
31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, slaughtered a billy goat, and they dipped the tunic into the blood. 32 Then they sent the long-sleeved tunic, and it was brought to their father, and they said, “We found this. Do you recognize whether or not it is your son’s tunic?”
33 He did recognize it and said, “My son’s tunic! An evil animal has devoured him! Joseph must be torn to pieces!” 34 Jacob tore his clothing and put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons got up along with all his daughters to console him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” So his father kept weeping for him.
36 Meanwhile the Midianites sold him into Egypt, to Potiphar an official of Pharaoh, the commander of the bodyguards.
11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning—we should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, while his brother’s were righteous. [a] 13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer—and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 We have come to know love by this—Yeshua laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.