Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A psalm of David.

¹⁴ So Pharaoh sent for Joseph. He was quickly brought out of the prison. Joseph shaved and changed his clothes. Then he came to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream. No one can tell me what it means. But I’ve heard that when you hear a dream you can explain it.”

¹⁶ “I can’t do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh. “But God will give Pharaoh the answer he wants.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh told Joseph what he had dreamed. He said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River. ¹⁸ Seven cows came up out of the river. They were fat and looked healthy. They were eating the tall grass growing along the river. ¹⁹ After them, seven other cows came up. They were bony and very ugly and thin. I had never seen such ugly cows in the whole land of Egypt. ²⁰ The thin, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. ²¹ But no one could tell that the thin cows had eaten the fat cows. That’s because the thin cows looked just as ugly as they had before. Then I woke up.

²² “In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain. They were full and good. They were all growing on one stem. ²³ After them, seven other heads of grain came up. They were weak and thin and dried up by the east wind. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told my dream to the magicians. But none of them could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams have the same meaning. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years. And the seven good heads of grain are seven years. Both dreams mean the same thing. ²⁷ The seven thin, ugly cows that came up later are seven years. So are the seven worthless heads of grain dried up by the east wind. They are seven years when there won’t be enough food.

²⁸ “It’s just as I said to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he’s about to do. ²⁹ Seven years with plenty of food are coming to the whole land of Egypt. ³⁰ But seven years when there won’t be enough food will follow them. Then everyone will forget about all the food Egypt had. Terrible hunger will destroy the land. ³¹ There won’t be anything left to remind people of the years when there was plenty of food in the land. That’s how bad the hunger that follows will be. ³² God gave the dream to Pharaoh in two forms. That’s because the matter has been firmly decided by God. And it’s because God will do it soon.

³³ “So Pharaoh should look for a wise and understanding man. He should put him in charge of the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Pharaoh should appoint officials to be in charge of the land. They should take a fifth of the harvest in Egypt during the seven years when there’s plenty of food. ³⁵ They should collect all the extra food of the good years that are coming. Pharaoh should give them authority to store up the grain. They should keep it in the cities for food. ³⁶ The grain should be stored up for the country to use later. It will be needed during the seven years when there isn’t enough food in Egypt. Then the country won’t be destroyed just because it doesn’t have enough food.”

Show Your Faith by What You Do

¹⁴ Suppose a person claims to have faith but doesn’t act on their faith. My brothers and sisters, can this kind of faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister has no clothes or food. ¹⁶ Suppose one of you says to them, “Go. I hope everything turns out fine for you. Keep warm. Eat well.” And suppose you do nothing about what they really need. Then what good have you done? ¹⁷ It is the same with faith. If it doesn’t cause us to do something, it’s dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith. I do good deeds.”

Show me your faith that doesn’t cause you to do good deeds. And I will show you my faith by the goods deeds I do. ¹⁹ You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that. And they tremble!

²⁰ You foolish person! Do you want proof that faith without good deeds is useless? ²¹ Our father Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar. Wasn’t he considered to be right with God because of what he did? ²² So you see that what he believed and what he did were working together. What he did made his faith complete. ²³ That is what Scripture means where it says, “Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.” (Genesis 15:6) And that’s not all. God called Abraham his friend. ²⁴ So you see that a person is considered right with God by what they do. It doesn’t happen only because they believe.

²⁵ Didn’t God consider even Rahab the prostitute to be right with him? That’s because of what she did for the spies. She gave them a place to stay. Then she sent them off in a different direction. ²⁶ A person’s body without their spirit is dead. In the same way, faith without good deeds is dead.