Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

133 How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live in harmony! ² For harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head and ran down onto his beard and onto the border of his robe. ³ Harmony is as refreshing as the dew on Mount Hermon, on the mountains of Israel. And God has pronounced this eternal blessing on Jerusalem,^[a] even life forevermore.

^29-30 Then he told them, “Soon I will die. You must bury me with my fathers in the land of Canaan, in the cave in the field of Mach-pelah, facing Mamre—the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hethite for a burial ground. ³¹ There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife; and there I buried Leah. ³² It is the cave which my grandfather Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth.” ³³ Then, when Jacob had finished his prophecies to his sons, he lay back in the bed, breathed his last, and died.

50 Joseph threw himself upon his father’s body and wept over him and kissed him. ² Afterwards he commanded his morticians to embalm the body. ³ The embalming process required forty days, with a period of national mourning of seventy days. ⁴ Then, when at last the mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s staff and requested them to speak to Pharaoh on his behalf.

⁵ “Tell His Majesty,” he requested them, “that Joseph’s father made Joseph swear to take his body back to the land of Canaan, to bury him there. Ask His Majesty to permit me to go and bury my father; assure him that I will return promptly.”

⁶ Pharaoh agreed. “Go and bury your father, as you promised,” he said.

⁷ So Joseph went, and a great number of Pharaoh’s counselors and assistants—all the senior officers of the land, ⁸ as well as all of Joseph’s people—his brothers and their families. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. ⁹ So a very great number of chariots, cavalry, and people accompanied Joseph.

¹⁰ When they arrived at Atad^[a] (meaning “Threshing Place of Brambles”), beyond the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn funeral service, with a seven-day period of lamentation for Joseph’s father. ¹¹ The local residents, the Canaanites, renamed the place Abel-mizraim (meaning “Egyptian Mourners”) for they said, “It is a place of very deep mourning by these Egyptians.” ^12-13 So his sons did as Israel commanded them, and carried his body into the land of Canaan and buried it there in the cave of Mach-pelah—the cave Abraham had bought in the field of Ephron the Hethite, close to Mamre.

¹⁴ Then Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to the funeral of his father.

¹³ So don’t criticize each other anymore. Try instead to live in such a way that you will never make your brother stumble by letting him see you doing something he thinks is wrong.

¹⁴ As for myself, I am perfectly sure on the authority of the Lord Jesus that there is nothing really wrong with eating meat that has been offered to idols. But if someone believes it is wrong, then he shouldn’t do it because for him it is wrong. ¹⁵ And if your brother is bothered by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you go ahead and eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Don’t do anything that will cause criticism against yourself even though you know that what you do is right.

¹⁷ For, after all, the important thing for us as Christians is not what we eat or drink but stirring up goodness and peace and joy from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ If you let Christ be Lord in these affairs, God will be glad; and so will others. ¹⁹ In this way aim for harmony in the church, and try to build each other up.

²⁰ Don’t undo the work of God for a chunk of meat. Remember, there is nothing wrong with the meat, but it is wrong to eat it if it makes another stumble. ²¹ The right thing to do is to quit eating meat or drinking wine or doing anything else that offends your brother or makes him sin. ²² You may know that there is nothing wrong with what you do, even from God’s point of view, but keep it to yourself; don’t flaunt your faith in front of others who might be hurt by it. In this situation, happy is the man who does not sin by doing what he knows is right. ²³ But anyone who believes that something he wants to do is wrong shouldn’t do it. He sins if he does, for he thinks it is wrong, and so for him it is wrong. Anything that is done apart from what he feels is right is sin.

15 ^1-2 Even if we believe that it makes no difference to the Lord whether we do these things, still we cannot just go ahead and do them to please ourselves; for we must bear the “burden” of being considerate of the doubts and fears of others—of those who feel these things are wrong. Let’s please the other fellow, not ourselves, and do what is for his good and thus build him up in the Lord.