Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
This is a song that David wrote.
The love of God[a]
103 I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Everything that is in me, praise his holy name!
2 I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Never forget all the good things that he has done for you!
3 He forgives all my sins.
He makes me well again when I am ill.
4 He saves me from the deep hole of death's power.
He always loves me and he is kind to me.
That is how he blesses me so much!
5 He gives me many good things for my life here.
So I become strong again, with the strength of a young eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair.
He helps poor people who suffer.
7 He showed Moses how he works to help his people.
He showed the Israelites the great things that he could do.
8 The Lord is kind to people and he forgives them.
He is slow to get angry and his love always continues.
9 He will not always tell us that we are wrong.
He will not always continue to be angry.
10 We should receive much punishment for the bad things that we do.
But the Lord does not punish us so much.
11 For people who worship him, his faithful love is very great.
How far is the sky above the earth? His love is greater than that!
12 How far is the east from the west?
The Lord has taken our sins further away than that!
He no longer says that we are guilty.
13 As a father is kind to his children, the Lord is kind to us.
He is kind to people who worship him.
Joseph says who he is
45 After Judah said this, Joseph could not control himself. He did not want to cry in front of all his servants. So he shouted, ‘Make everyone go away from me!’ So there was no one still there with Joseph, except his brothers. Then he told his brothers who he was. 2 Joseph wept loudly, so that the Egyptians heard him. All the people in Pharaoh's house knew about it.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him because they were too frightened. They could see Joseph was there in front of them![a]
4 Then Joseph said to them, ‘Come near to me.’ So they did that. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph. I am the one that you sold to become a slave in Egypt! 5 But do not be upset. Do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me like that. No! It was God who sent me here! He sent me here before you came. He did that so that I could save people's lives. 6 There has been a famine for two years already. No food will grow for another five years. 7 But God sent me to come here before you. Because of that, your family would stay alive. God would do a great thing to save you and your descendants. 8 So you did not really send me here. It was God who did that! He made me Pharaoh's most important officer, as if I am his father. I take care of everything in Pharaoh's palace. I have authority to rule over all of Egypt.[b] 9 Now hurry back to my father. Say to him, “This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord over all Egypt. Come here to me. Come now. 10 You can live in the region called Goshen. You, your children and your grandchildren can live there. You can bring your sheep, goats and cows, together with everything that you have. In Goshen you will all be near me. 11 I will take care of you there. I will give food to you, because there will be five more years of famine. If you do not come here, you and all your family and servants will become very poor.” ’
12 Joseph continued to say to his brothers, ‘As I speak to you now, you can all see clearly that I really am Joseph. My brother Benjamin also knows that. 13 Tell my father about the authority that I have here in Egypt. Tell him about everything that you have seen here. Then bring my father here quickly.’
14 Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin and he wept. Benjamin hugged Joseph and he also wept. 15 Joseph continued to weep as he kissed each of his other brothers too. After this, his brothers began to talk to Joseph.
16 Pharaoh then heard that Joseph's brothers had arrived in Egypt. Pharaoh and his officers were happy to know that. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Tell your brothers to do this. Say to them, “Put food on your donkeys and return home to Canaan. 18 Then bring your father and your families to come here to me. I will give you the best land in Egypt to live on. You will have all the best things that the land gives to you.” 19 You must also tell your brothers, “Take some carts from here in Egypt. Your wives and children can ride in them to come back here. Bring your father and come quickly. 20 Do not worry. You do not have to bring all your things from your own country. The best things of Egypt will belong to you.” ’
7 When you pray, do not say the same words many times. People who do not believe in God do that. They use many words that mean nothing. They think that when they pray like that, their gods will hear them. 8 Do not pray like they do. God your Father already knows what you need. He knows this even before you ask him.
9 So this is how you should pray:
“God, our Father who is in heaven,
we want people to give honour to you.
10 We want the day when you rule everyone to come soon.
We want everyone to obey you on earth, like everyone in heaven obeys you.
11 Please give us the food that we need today.
12 We have forgiven people who have done wrong things to us.
In the same way, please forgive us for the wrong things that we have done.
13 Do not let us agree to do wrong things.
Keep us safe from Satan.” ’
14 Then Jesus said, ‘When other people do wrong things against you, you must forgive them. Then God, your Father in heaven, will also forgive you for the wrong things that you have done. 15 But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive you.’
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.