Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 25
A Psalm of David.
1 To You, O Lord,
do I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I trust in You;
may I not be ashamed;
may my enemies not triumph over me.
3 Yes, let none who wait on You
be ashamed;
let them be ashamed
who transgress without cause.
4 Make me to know Your ways, O Lord;
teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation;
on You I wait all the day.
6 Remember Your mercies, O Lord, and Your lovingkindness,
for they are from old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
or my transgressions;
according to Your lovingkindness remember me,
on account of Your goodness, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore He will teach sinners in the way.
9 The meek will He guide in judgment,
and the meek He will teach His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth,
for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
14 So Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came to Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream to interpret it.”
16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, I stood on the bank of the Nile. 18 And suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fattened and fine-looking, and they grazed in the reeds. 19 Then seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt. I have never seen such ugliness in all the land of Egypt. 20 And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. 21 And when they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as before. Then I awoke.
22 “I also saw in my dreams seven ears of grain, full and good, suddenly come up on one stalk. 23 Then seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprang up after them. 24 And the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years. The dreams are one. 27 The seven gaunt and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.
28 “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance will come throughout all the land of Egypt. 30 However, there will arise after them seven years of famine. All the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will consume the land. 31 The abundance will be unknown in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. 32 The reason the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice is because the matter is established by God, and God will soon bring it to pass.
33 “Now, therefore, let Pharaoh seek out a man who is discerning and wise and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officials over the land and collect the fifth part of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven abundant years. 35 Let them gather all the food from those good years that come and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. 36 This food will be for a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will be in the land of Egypt, so that the land does not perish during the famine.”
Faith and Works
14 What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacking daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” and yet you give them nothing that the body needs, what does it profit? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
18 But a man may say, “You have faith and I have works.”
Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God; you do well. The demons also believe and tremble.
20 But do you want to be shown, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 Do you see how faith worked with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 The Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,”[a] and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then how by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.