Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
2 This was Hannah’s prayer:
“How I rejoice in the Lord!
How he has blessed me!
Now I have an answer for my enemies,
For the Lord has solved my problem.
How I rejoice!
2 No one is as holy as the Lord!
There is no other God,
Nor any Rock like our God.
3 Quit acting so proud and arrogant!
The Lord knows what you have done,
And he will judge your deeds.
4 Those who were mighty are mighty no more!
Those who were weak are now strong.
5 Those who were well are now starving;
Those who were starving are fed.
The barren woman now has seven children;
She with many children has no more!
6 The Lord kills,
The Lord gives life.
7 Some he causes to be poor
And others to be rich.
He cuts one down
And lifts another up.
8 He lifts the poor from the dust—
Yes, from a pile of ashes—
And treats them as princes
Sitting in the seats of honor.
For all the earth is the Lord’s
And he has set the world in order.
9 He will protect his godly ones,
But the wicked shall be silenced in darkness.
No one shall succeed by strength alone.
10 Those who fight against the Lord shall be broken;
He thunders against them from heaven.
He judges throughout the earth.
He gives mighty strength to his king,
And gives great glory to his anointed one.”
2 Jacob’s son Joseph was now seventeen years old. His job, along with his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, was to shepherd his father’s flocks. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things they were doing. 3 Now as it happened, Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other children, because Joseph was born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob gave him a special gift—a brightly colored coat.[a] 4 His brothers of course noticed their father’s partiality, and consequently hated Joseph; they couldn’t say a kind word to him. 5 One night Joseph had a dream and promptly reported the details to his brothers, causing even deeper hatred.
6 “Listen to this,” he proudly announced. 7 “We were out in the field binding sheaves, and my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves all gathered around it and bowed low before it!”
8 “So you want to be our king, do you?” his brothers derided. And they hated him both for the dream and for his cocky attitude.
9 Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Listen to my latest dream,” he boasted. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!” 10 This time he told his father as well as his brothers; but his father rebuked him. “What is this?” he asked. “Shall I indeed, and your mother and brothers come and bow before you?” 11 His brothers were fit to be tied concerning this affair, but his father gave it quite a bit of thought and wondered what it all meant.
1 These are the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David and of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac; Isaac was the father of Jacob; Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (Tamar was their mother); Perez was the father of Hezron; Hezron was the father of Aram;
4 Aram was the father of Amminadab; Amminadab was the father of Nahshon; Nahshon was the father of Salmon;
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (Rahab was his mother); Boaz was the father of Obed (Ruth was his mother); Obed was the father of Jesse;
6 Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (his mother was the widow of Uriah);
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam; Rehoboam was the father of Abijah; Abijah was the father of Asa;
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat; Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram; Jehoram was the father of Uzziah;
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham; Jotham was the father of Ahaz; Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah;
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh; Manasseh was the father of Amos; Amos was the father of Josiah;
11 Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).
12 After the exile: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel; Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel;
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud; Abiud was the father of Eliakim; Eliakim was the father of Azor;
14 Azor was the father of Zadok; Zadok was the father of Achim; Achim was the father of Eliud;
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar; Eleazar was the father of Matthan; Matthan was the father of Jacob;
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph (who was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ the Messiah).
17 These are fourteen[a] of the generations from Abraham to King David; and fourteen from King David’s time to the exile; and fourteen from the exile to Christ.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.