Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Man’s Wickedness and God’s Perfections
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.
36 An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:
(A)There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
(B)He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 (C)He devises wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself (D)in a way that is not good;
He does not [a]abhor (E)evil.
5 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the [b]great mountains;
(F)Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men (G)put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
8 (H)They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from (I)the river of Your pleasures.
9 (J)For with You is the fountain of life;
(K)In Your light we see light.
10 Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been cast down and are not able to rise.
Joseph Revealed to His Brothers
45 Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him (A)while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he (B)wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it.
3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, (C)“I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. 4 And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, (D)whom you sold into Egypt. 5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; (E)for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years the (F)famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 And God (G)sent me before you to preserve a [a]posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but (H)God; and He has made me (I)a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a (J)ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9 “Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not [b]tarry. 10 (K)You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. 11 There I will (L)provide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine.” ’
12 “And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is (M)my mouth that speaks to you. 13 So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hurry and (N)bring my father down here.”
14 Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15 Moreover he (O)kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.
The Patriarchs in Egypt
9 (A)“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, (B)sold Joseph into Egypt. (C)But God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, (D)and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 (E)Now a famine and great [a]trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 (F)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And the (G)second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14 (H)Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and (I)all his relatives to him, [b]seventy-five people. 15 (J)So Jacob went down to Egypt; (K)and he died, he and our fathers. 16 And (L)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in (M)the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.