Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(A song for worship.)

Living Together in Peace

Jacob's Death

^29-31 (A) Jacob told his sons:

Soon I will die, and I want you to bury me in Machpelah Cave. Abraham bought this cave as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, and it is near the town of Mamre in Canaan. Abraham and Sarah are buried there, and so are Isaac and Rebekah. I buried Leah there too. ³² Both the cave and the land that goes with it were bought from the Hittites.

^33 (B) When Jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons, he lay down on his bed and died. 50 ¹ Joseph started crying, then leaned over to hug and kiss his father.

² Joseph gave orders for Jacob's body to be embalmed, ³ and it took the usual 40 days.

The Egyptians mourned 70 days for Jacob. ⁴ When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the Egyptian leaders, “If you consider me your friend, please speak to the king^[a] for me. ^5 (C) Just before my father died, he made me promise to bury him in his burial cave in Canaan. If the king will give me permission to go, I will come back here.”

⁶ The king answered, “Go to Canaan and keep your promise to your father.”

^7-9 When Joseph left Goshen with his brothers, his relatives, and his father's relatives to bury Jacob, many of the king's highest officials and even his military chariots and cavalry went along. The Israelites left behind only their children, their cattle, and their sheep and goats.

¹⁰ After crossing the Jordan River, Joseph stopped at Atad's threshing place, where they all mourned and wept seven days for Jacob. ¹¹ The Canaanites saw this and said, “The Egyptians are in great sorrow.” Then they named the place “Egypt in Sorrow.”^[b]

¹² So Jacob's sons did just as their father had instructed. ^13 (D) They took him to Mamre in Canaan and buried him in Machpelah Cave, the burial place Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite.

¹⁴ After the funeral, Joseph, his brothers, and everyone else returned to Egypt.

Don't Cause Problems for Others

¹³ We must stop judging others. We must also make up our minds not to upset anyone's faith. ¹⁴ The Lord Jesus has made it clear to me that God considers all foods fit to eat. But if you think some foods are unfit to eat, then for you they are not fit.

¹⁵ If you are hurting others by the foods you eat, you are not guided by love. Don't let your appetite destroy someone Christ died for. ¹⁶ Don't let your right to eat bring shame to Christ. ¹⁷ God's kingdom isn't about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness. All this comes from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ If you serve Christ in this way, you will please God and be respected by people. ¹⁹ We should try^[a] to live at peace and help each other have a strong faith.

²⁰ Don't let your appetite destroy what God has done. All foods are fit to eat, but it is wrong to cause problems for others by what you eat. ²¹ It is best not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that causes problems for other followers of the Lord. ²² What you believe about these things should be kept between you and God. You are fortunate, if your actions don't make you have doubts. ²³ But if you do have doubts about what you eat, you are going against your beliefs. And you know that is wrong, because anything you do against your beliefs is sin.

Please Others and Not Yourself

15 If our faith is strong, we should be patient with the Lord's followers whose faith is weak. We should try to please them instead of ourselves. ² We should think of their good and try to help them by doing what pleases them.