Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 25

Teach Me Your Ways

Heading
By David.

A Prayer for Protection

A Prayer for Forgiveness

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon. Joseph shaved, changed his clothing, and went to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in my power. God will give Pharaoh an answer to give him peace of mind.”

¹⁷ Pharaoh spoke to Joseph: “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the river. ¹⁸ Suddenly seven fat, beautiful cows came up out of the river and were grazing in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ Just then seven poor cattle, very ugly and thin, came up after them. They were uglier than any I had ever seen in the whole land of Egypt. ²⁰ The thin, ugly cattle ate up the first seven cattle, the fat ones, ²¹ and when they had eaten them up, you could not even tell that they had eaten them, because they were still as ugly as they were at the beginning. Then I woke up.

²² “Later I had another dream, in which I saw seven heads of grain grow on one stalk. They were full and good. ²³ Then I saw seven heads of grain spring up after them. They were withered, thin, and blasted by the east wind. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told the dream to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. God has declared to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cattle are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. It is one dream. ²⁷ The seven thin, ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted by the east wind. They will be seven years of famine. ²⁸ This is the very thing that I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ Look, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. ³⁰ Seven years of famine will come up after them, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will consume the land, ³¹ and the abundance will not be remembered in the land because of the famine that follows, for it will be very severe. ³² The double dream was shown to Pharaoh, because this matter is established by God, and God will bring it to pass very soon.”

Joseph Comes to Power

³³ “Let Pharaoh, therefore, look for a man who is wise and discerning, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ When Pharaoh does this, let him appoint overseers over the land to collect one fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Let them collect all this food from these good years that are coming. Accumulate grain under the authority of Pharaoh to provide food for the cities, and let them store it. ³⁶ The food will be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt so that the land does not perish because of the famine.”

Faith Is Active

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says that he has faith but has no works? Such “faith” cannot save him, can it? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister needs clothes and lacks daily food ¹⁶ and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but does not give them what their body needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ So also, such “faith,” if it is alone and has no works, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

¹⁹ You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder! ²⁰ But do you want proof, you mindless person, that such “faith” without works is dead?^{[a] 21} Wasn’t Abraham our father shown to be righteous by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²² You see that his faith was working together with his works, and by his works his faith was shown to be complete. ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”^[b] He was also called God’s friend.^{[c] 24} You see^[d] that a person is shown to be righteous by works and not by faith alone.

²⁵ In the same way also, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute shown to be righteous by works when she welcomed the spies and sent them out another way? ²⁶ For just as the body without breath^[e] is dead, so also faith without works is dead.