Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
[a] A song of David.
25 Lord, I put my life in your hands.[b]
2 I trust in you, my God,
and I will not be disappointed.
My enemies will not laugh at me.
3 No one who trusts in you will be disappointed.
But disappointment will come to those who try to deceive others.
They will get nothing.
4 Lord, help me learn your ways.
Show me how you want me to live.
5 Guide me and teach me your truths.
You are my God, my Savior.
You are the one I have been waiting for.
6 Remember to be kind to me, Lord.
Show me the tender love that you have always had.
7 Don’t remember the sinful things I did when I was young.
Because you are good, Lord, remember me with your faithful love.
8 The Lord is good and does what is right.
He shows sinners the right way to live.
9 He teaches his ways to humble people.
He leads them with fairness.
10 The Lord is kind and true to those
who obey what he said in his agreement.
Joseph Is Called to Explain the Dreams
14 So Pharaoh called Joseph from the prison. The guards quickly got Joseph out of prison. Joseph shaved, put on some clean clothes, and went to see Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can explain it for me. I heard that you can explain dreams when someone tells you about them.”
16 Joseph answered, “I cannot! But God can explain the dream for you, Pharaoh.”
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing by the Nile River. 18 Seven cows came up out of the river and stood there eating the grass. They were healthy, good-looking cows. 19 Then I saw seven more cows come up out of the river after them, but these cows were thin and looked sick. They were the worst cows I had ever seen anywhere in Egypt! 20 The thin, sick cows ate the first healthy cows, 21 but they still looked thin and sick. You couldn’t even tell they had eaten the healthy cows. They looked as thin and sick as they did in the beginning. Then I woke up.
22 “In my next dream I saw seven heads of grain growing on one plant. They were healthy and full of grain. 23 And then seven more heads of grain grew after them, but they were thin and scorched by the hot wind. 24 Then the thin heads of grain ate the seven good heads of grain.
“I told these dreams to my magicians. But no one could explain the dreams to me. What do they mean?”
Joseph Explains the Dream
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both of these dreams have the same meaning. God is telling you what will happen soon. 26 The seven good cows and the seven good heads of grain are seven good years. 27 And the seven thin, sick-looking cows and the seven thin heads of grain mean that there will be seven years of hunger in this area. These seven bad years will come after the seven good years. 28 God has shown you what will happen soon. He will make these things happen just as I told you. 29 For seven years there will be plenty of food in Egypt. 30 But then there will be seven years of hunger. The people will forget how much food there had been in Egypt before. This famine will ruin the country. 31 It will be so bad that people will forget what it was like to have plenty of food.
32 “Pharaoh, you had two dreams about the same thing. That means God wanted to show you that he really will make this happen, and he will make it happen soon! 33 So, Pharaoh, you should choose a wise, intelligent man and put him in charge of Egypt. 34 Then you should choose other men to collect food from the people. During the seven good years, the people must give them one-fifth of all the food they grow. 35 In this way these men will collect all the food during the seven good years and store it in the cities until it is needed. Pharaoh, this food will be under your control. 36 Then during the seven years of hunger, there will be food for the country of Egypt. And Egypt will not be destroyed by the famine.”
Faith and Good Works
14 My brothers and sisters, if a person claims to have faith but does nothing, that faith is worth nothing. Faith like that cannot save anyone. 15 Suppose a brother or sister in Christ comes to you in need of clothes or something to eat. 16 And you say to them, “God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat,” but you don’t give them the things they need. If you don’t help them, your words are worthless. 17 It is the same with faith. If it is just faith and nothing more—if it doesn’t do anything—it is dead.
18 But someone might argue, “Some people have faith, and others have good works.” My answer would be that you can’t show me your faith if you don’t do anything. But I will show you my faith by the good I do. 19 You believe there is one God. That’s good, but even the demons believe that! And they shake with fear.
20 You fool! Faith that does nothing is worth nothing. Do you want me to prove this to you? 21 Our father Abraham was made right with God by what he did. He offered his son Isaac to God on the altar. 22 So you see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was made perfect by what he did. 23 This shows the full meaning of the Scriptures that say, “Abraham believed God, and because of this faith he was accepted as one who is right with God.”[a] Abraham was called “God’s friend.”[b] 24 So you see that people are made right with God by what they do. They cannot be made right by faith alone.
25 Another example is Rahab. She was a prostitute, but she was made right with God by something she did. She helped those who were spying for God’s people. She welcomed them into her home and helped them escape by a different road.[c]
26 A person’s body that does not have a spirit is dead. It is the same with faith—faith that does nothing is dead!
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International