Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 25

Dependence on the Lord

Davidic.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon.^(A) He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.^(B)

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.”^(C)

¹⁶ “I am not able to,”^(D) Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”^[a](E)

¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, ¹⁸ when seven well-fed, healthy-looking cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds. ¹⁹ After them, seven other cows—ugly, very sickly, and thin—came up. I’ve never seen such ugly ones as these in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ Then the thin, ugly cows ate the first seven well-fed cows. ²¹ When they had devoured them, you could not tell that they had devoured them; their appearance was as bad as it had been before. Then I woke up. ²² In my dream I had also seen seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, coming up on one stalk. ²³ After them, seven heads of grain—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind—sprouted up. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven plump ones. I told this to the magicians, but no one can tell me what it means.”^(F)

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.^{(G) 26} The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads are seven years. The dreams mean the same thing. ²⁷ The seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven worthless, scorched heads of grain are seven years of famine.^(H)

²⁸ “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Seven^[b] years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt. ³⁰ After them, seven years of famine will take place, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land.^{(I) 31} The abundance in the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows it, for the famine will be very severe. ³² Since the dream was given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been determined by God, and He will carry it out soon.

³³ “So now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this: Let him appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of the harvest of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Let them gather all the excess food during these good years that are coming. Under Pharaoh’s authority, store the grain in the cities, so they may preserve it as food. ³⁶ The food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt. Then the country will not be wiped out by the famine.”

Faith and Works

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith^[a] save him?

¹⁵ If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?^{(A) 17} In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.”^[b] Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works.^{[c](B) 19} You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.^(C)

²⁰ Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? ²¹ Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²² You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected.^{(D) 23} So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness,^(E)[d] and he was called God’s friend.^{(F) 24} You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And in the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by a different route?^{(G) 26} For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.