Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 And when the brothers of Joseph saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hold a grudge against us and pay us back dearly for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent word to Joseph saying, “Your father commanded us before his death, saying, 17 “Thus you must say to Joseph, ‘O, please now forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you.’ So now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers went also and fell before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 Then Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you planned evil against me, but God planned it for good, in order to do this—to keep many people alive—as it is today. 21 So then, do not be afraid. I myself will provide for you and your little ones. And he consoled them and spoke kindly[a] to them.
Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Compassion
Of David.[a]
103 Bless Yahweh, O my soul,
and all within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless Yahweh, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits:
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with loyal love and mercies,
5 who satisfies your life with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 Yahweh does deeds of justice
and judgments for all who are oppressed,
7 who made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people[b] of Israel.
8 Yahweh is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger[a] and abundant in loyal love.
9 He does not dispute continually,
nor keep his anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so his loyal love prevails over those who fear him.
12 As far as east is from west,
so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions.
13 As a father pities[b] his children,
so Yahweh pities[c] those who fear him.
Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another
14 Now receive the one who is weak in faith, but not for quarrels about opinions. 2 One believes he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats must not despise the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat must not judge the one who eats, because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you, who passes judgment on the domestic slave belonging to someone else? To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person[a] prefers one day over another day, and another person regards every day alike. Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who is intent on the day is intent on it for the Lord, and the one who eats eats for the Lord, because he is thankful to God, and the one who does not eat does not eat for the Lord, and he is thankful to God. 7 For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself. 8 For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For Christ died and became alive again for this reason, in order that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or also, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue will praise God.”[b]
12 So[c] each one of us will give an account concerning himself.[d]
The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave
21 Then Peter came up to him and[a] said,[b] “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I will forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven![c]
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man—a king—who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 And when[d] he began to settle them,[e] someone was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents. 25 And because[f] he did not have enough[g] to repay it,[h] the master ordered him to be sold, and his[i] wife and his[j] children and everything that he had, and to be repaid. 26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground and[k] began to do obeisance to him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay back everything to you!’ 27 So the master of that slave, because he[l] had compassion, released him and forgave him the loan. 28 But that slave went out and[m] found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke him,[n] saying, ‘Pay back everything that you owe!’ 29 Then his fellow slave threw himself to the ground and[o] began to implore[p] him, saying, ‘Be patient with me and I will repay you!’ 30 But he did not want to, but rather he went and[q] threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed. 31 So when[r] his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed, and went and[s] reported to their master everything that had happened. 32 Then his master summoned him and[t] said to him, ‘Wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you implored me! 33 Should you not also have shown mercy to your fellow slave as I also showed mercy to you?’ 34 And because he[u] was angry, his master handed him over to the merciless jailers[v] until he would repay everything that was owed. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from your hearts!”
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