Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Wickedness of Men and Lovingkindness of God.

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

Joseph Deals Kindly with His Brothers

45 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, “Have everyone go out from me.” So there ^[a]was no man with him ^(A)when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ^2 (B)He ^[b]wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it. ³ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “^(C)I am Joseph! ^(D)Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for ^(E)they were dismayed at his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come ^[c]closer to me.” And they came ^[d]closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you ^(F)sold into Egypt. ⁵ Now do not be grieved or angry ^[e]with yourselves, because ^(G)you sold me here, for ^(H)God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land ^(I)these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ^7 (J)God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great ^[f]deliverance. ⁸ Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a ^(K)father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry and go up to my father, and ^(L)say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. ¹⁰ You shall ^[g]live in the land of ^(M)Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. ¹¹ There I will also ^(N)provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.”’ ¹² Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you. ¹³ Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and ^(O)bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and ^(P)wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. ¹⁵ He kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

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 all his 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 On the second visit ^(E)Joseph ^[b]made himself known to his brothers, and ^(F)Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then ^(G)Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, ^(H)seventy-five ^[c](I)persons in all. ¹⁵ And ^(J)Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. ¹⁶ From there they were removed 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.