Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.
A Psalm of David.
103 (A)Bless the Lord, my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His (B)holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, my soul,
And (C)do not forget any of His benefits;
3 Who (D)pardons all your guilt,
Who (E)heals all your diseases;
4 Who (F)redeems your life from the pit,
Who (G)crowns you with favor and compassion;
5 Who (H)satisfies your [a]years with good things,
So that your youth is (I)renewed like the eagle.
8 The Lord is (A)compassionate and gracious,
(B)Slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
9 He (C)will not always contend with us,
Nor will He (D)keep His anger forever.
10 He has (E)not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our guilty deeds.
11 For as high (F)as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who [a]fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He (G)removed our wrongdoings from us.
13 Just (H)as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who [b]fear Him.
53 When the seven years of plenty which had taken place in the land of Egypt came to an end, 54 and (A)the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 So when all the land of Egypt suffered famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; (B)whatever he says to you, you shall do.” 56 When the famine was spread over the entire face of the earth, then Joseph opened all [a]the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because (C)the famine was severe in all the earth.
Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt
42 Now (D)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” 2 Then he said, “Look, (E)I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from [b]that place, (F)so that we may live and not die.” 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother (G)Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “(H)I am afraid that harm may happen to him.” 5 So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, (I)because the famine was also in the land of Canaan.
6 Now (J)Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and (K)bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and (L)spoke to them harshly. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”
8 But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although (M)they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph (N)remembered the dreams which he [c]had about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the [d]undefended parts of our land.” 10 And they said to him, “No, (O)my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man; we are (P)honest men, your servants are not spies.” 12 Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the [e]undefended parts of our land!” 13 But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with (Q)our father today, and (R)one is no longer alive.” 14 Yet Joseph said to them, “It is as I said [f]to you, you are spies; 15 by this you will be tested: (S)by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here! 16 Send one of you and have him get your brother, while you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, whether there is (T)truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, you are certainly spies!” 17 So he put them all together in (U)prison for three days.
9 “The patriarchs (A)became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and (B)granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.
11 “Now (C)a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers [a]could find no food. 12 But (D)when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 And on the second visit, (E)Joseph [b]made himself known to his brothers, and (F)Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh. 14 Then (G)Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, (H)seventy-five [c](I)people in all. 15 And (J)Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there. 16 And they were brought back from there to [d](K)Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of [e]Hamor in [f]Shechem.
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