Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Blessed Unity of the People of God

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

Jacob’s Death and Burial

²⁹ Then he charged them and said to them: “I ^(A)am to be gathered to my people; ^(B)bury me with my fathers ^(C)in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, ^(D)which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. ^31 (E)There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, ^(F)there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” ³³ And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

Burial of Jacob

50 Then Joseph ^(G)fell on his father’s face and ^(H)wept over him, and kissed him. ² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to ^(I)embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians ^(J)mourned^[a] for him seventy days.

⁴ Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to ^(K)the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, ^5 (L)‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave ^(M)which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ”

⁶ And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.

¹⁰ Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they ^(N)mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. ^(O)He observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹ And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called ^[b]Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

¹² So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. ¹³ For ^(P)his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham ^(Q)bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. ¹⁴ And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

¹³ Therefore let us not judge one another ^[a]anymore, but rather resolve this, ^(A)not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

The Law of Love

¹⁴ I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus ^(B)that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. ¹⁵ Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. ^(C)Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. ^16 (D)Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; ^17 (E)for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and ^(F)peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ For he who serves Christ in ^[b]these things ^(G)is acceptable to God and approved by men.

^19 (H)Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which ^(I)one may ^[c]edify another. ^20 (J)Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. ^(K)All things indeed are pure, ^(L)but it is evil for the man who eats with ^[d]offense. ²¹ It is good neither to eat ^(M)meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles ^[e]or is offended or is made weak. ^22 [f]Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. ^(N)Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. ²³ But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for ^(O)whatever is not from faith is ^[g]sin.

Bearing Others’ Burdens

15 We ^(P)then who are strong ought to bear with the ^[h]scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ^2 (Q)Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to ^[i]edification.