Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Wickedness of Humanity and Goodness of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

The Return to Egypt

43 ^(A)Now the famine was severe in the land. ² So it came about, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” ³ Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “^(B)The man sternly warned ^[a]us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵ But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶ Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, ^[b]by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” ⁷ But they said, “The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, ‘^(C)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we ^[c]answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸ So Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, ^(D)so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ^9 (E)I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from ^[d]me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then ^[e]you can let me take the blame forever. ¹⁰ For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ^[f]bags, and carry down to the man ^(F)as a gift, a little ^(G)balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and ^[g]myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^(H)the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³ Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; ¹⁴ and may ^[h](I)God Almighty ^(J)grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you ^(K)your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(L)if I am bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved!” ¹⁵ So the men took ^(M)this gift, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they set out and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Choosing of the Seven

6 Now ^[a]at this time, as the ^(A)disciples were ^(B)increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the ^[b](C)Hellenistic Jews against the native ^(D)Hebrews, because their ^(E)widows were being overlooked in ^(F)the daily serving of food. ² So the twelve summoned the ^[c]congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. ³ Instead, ^(G)brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, ^(H)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. ⁴ But we will ^(I)devote ourselves to prayer and to the ^[d]ministry of the word.” ⁵ The ^[e]announcement found approval with the whole ^[f]congregation; and they chose ^(J)Stephen, a man ^(K)full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and ^(L)Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and ^[g]Nicolas, a ^[h](M)proselyte from ^(N)Antioch. ⁶ And they brought these men before the apostles; and after ^(O)praying, they ^(P)laid their hands on them.

^7 (Q)The word of God kept spreading; and ^(R)the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to ^(S)the faith.