Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

By David.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and immediately he was brought from the prison. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came in front of Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can tell me what it means. I heard that when you are told a dream, you can say what it means.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “I can’t, but God can give Pharaoh the answer that he needs.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile. ¹⁸ Suddenly, seven nice-looking, well-fed cows came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds. ¹⁹ Seven other cows came up behind them. These cows were scrawny, very sick, and thin. I’ve never seen such sickly cows in all of Egypt! ²⁰ The thin, sickly cows ate up the seven well-fed ones. ²¹ Even though they had eaten them, no one could tell they had eaten them. They looked just as sick as before. Then I woke up.

²² “In my second dream I saw seven good, full heads of grain growing on a single stalk. ²³ Seven other heads of grain, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted behind them. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but no one could tell me what it meant.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh had the same dream twice. God has told Pharaoh what he’s going to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. It’s all the same dream. ²⁷ The seven thin, sickly cows that came up behind them are seven years. The seven empty heads of grain scorched by the east wind are also seven years. Seven years of famine are coming.

²⁸ “It’s just as I said to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he’s going to do. ²⁹ Seven years are coming when there will be plenty of food in Egypt. ³⁰ After them will come seven years of famine. People will forget that there was plenty of food in Egypt, and the famine will ruin the land. ³¹ People won’t remember that there once was plenty of food in the land, because the coming famine will be so severe. ³² The reason Pharaoh has had a recurring dream is because the matter has been definitely decided by God, and he will do it very soon.

Joseph Advises Pharaoh

³³ “Pharaoh should look for a wise and intelligent man and put him in charge of Egypt. ³⁴ Make arrangements to appoint supervisors over the land to take a fifth of Egypt’s harvest during the seven good years. ³⁵ Have them collect all the food during these good years and store up grain under Pharaoh’s control, to be kept for food in the cities. ³⁶ This food will be a reserve supply for our country during the seven years of famine that will happen in Egypt. Then the land will not be ruined by the famine.”

We Show Our Faith by What We Do

¹⁴ My brothers and sisters, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him? ¹⁵ Suppose a believer, whether a man or a woman, needs clothes or food ¹⁶ and one of you tells that person, “God be with you! Stay warm, and make sure you eat enough.” If you don’t provide for that person’s physical needs, what good does it do? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn’t cause you to do any good things.

¹⁸ Another person might say, “You have faith, but I do good things.” Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear.

²⁰ You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless? ²¹ Didn’t our ancestor Abraham receive God’s approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar? ²² You see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did. ²³ The Scripture passage came true. It says, “Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham’s approval by God.” So Abraham was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes. ²⁵ The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God’s approval because of what she did.

²⁶ A body that doesn’t breathe ^[a] is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead.