Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁵ Realizing that their father was dead, Yosef’s brothers said, “Yosef may hate us now and pay us back in full for all the suffering we caused him.” ¹⁶ So they sent a message to Yosef which said, “Your father gave this order before he died: ¹⁷ ‘Say to Yosef, “I beg you now, please forgive your brothers’ crime and wickedness in doing you harm.”’ So now, we beg of you, forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Yosef wept when they spoke to him; ¹⁸ and his brothers too came, prostrated themselves before him and said, “Here, we are your slaves.” ¹⁹ But Yosef said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You meant to do me harm, but God meant it for good — so that it would come about as it is today, with many people’s lives being saved. (vii) ²¹ So don’t be afraid — I will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he comforted them, speaking kindly to them.

14 Now as for a person whose trust is weak, welcome him — but not to get into arguments over opinions. ² One person has the trust that will allow him to eat anything, while another whose trust is weak eats only vegetables. ³ The one who eats anything must not look down on the one who abstains; and the abstainer must not pass judgment on the one who eats anything, because God has accepted him — ⁴ who are you to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? It is before his own master that he will stand or fall; and the fact is that he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵ One person considers some days more holy than others, while someone else regards them as being all alike. What is important is for each to be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ He who observes a day as special does so to honor the Lord. Also he who eats anything, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; likewise the abstainer abstains to honor the Lord, and he too gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives only in relation to himself, and none of us dies only in relation to himself; ⁸ for if we live, we live in relation to the Lord; and if we die, we die in relation to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord — ⁹ indeed, it was for this very reason that the Messiah died and came back to life, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰ You then, why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For all of us will stand before God’s judgment seat; ¹¹ since it is written in the Tanakh,

¹² So then, every one of us will have to give an account of himself to God.

²¹ Then Kefa came up and said to him, “Rabbi, how often can my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? As many as seven times?” ²² “No, not seven times,” answered Yeshua, “but seventy times seven! ²³ Because of this, the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared with a king who decided to settle accounts with his deputies. ²⁴ Right away they brought forward a man who owed him many millions; ²⁵ and since he couldn’t pay, his master ordered that he, his wife, his children and all his possessions be sold to pay the debt. ²⁶ But the servant fell down before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ So out of pity for him, the master let him go and forgave the debt.

²⁸ “But as that servant was leaving, he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him some tiny sum. He grabbed him and began to choke him, crying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ²⁹ His fellow servant fell before him and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ ³⁰ But he refused; instead, he had him thrown in jail until he should repay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed; and they went and told their master everything that had taken place. ³² Then the master summoned his servant and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt just because you begged me to do it. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had pity on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ ³⁴ And in anger his master turned him over to the jailers for punishment until he paid back everything he owed. ³⁵ This is how my heavenly Father will treat you, unless you each forgive your brother from your hearts.”