Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
(By David.)
A Prayer for Guidance and Help
1 I offer you my heart, Lord God,
2 and I trust you.
Don't make me ashamed
or let enemies defeat me.
3 Don't disappoint any
of your worshipers,
but disappoint all
deceitful liars.
4 Show me your paths
and teach me to follow;
5 guide me by your truth
and instruct me.
You keep me safe,
and I always trust you.
6 Please, Lord, remember,
you have always
been patient and kind.
7 Forget each wrong I did
when I was young.
Show how truly kind you are
and remember me.
8 You are honest and merciful,
and you teach sinners
how to follow your path.
9 You lead humble people
to do what is right
and to stay on your path.
10 In everything you do,
you are kind and faithful
to everyone who keeps
our agreement with you.
Joseph Is Made Governor over Egypt
37 The king[a] and his officials liked this plan. 38 So the king said to them, “Who could possibly handle this better than Joseph? After all, the Spirit of God is with him.”
39 The king told Joseph, “God is the one who has shown you these things. No one else is as wise as you are or knows as much as you do. 40 (A) I'm putting you in charge of my palace, and everybody will have to obey you. No one will be over you except me. 41 You are now governor of all Egypt!”
42 (B) Then the king took off his royal ring and put it on Joseph's finger. He gave him fine clothes to wear and placed a gold chain around his neck. 43 He also let him ride in the chariot next to his own, and people shouted, “Make way for Joseph!” So Joseph was governor of Egypt.
44 The king told Joseph, “Although I'm king, no one in Egypt is to do anything without your permission.” 45 He gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath Paneah. And he let him marry Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of Heliopolis.[b] Joseph traveled all over[c] Egypt.
46 Joseph was 30 when the king made him governor, and he went everywhere for the king. 47 For seven years there were big harvests of grain. 48 Joseph collected and stored up the extra grain in the cities of Egypt near the fields where it was harvested. 49 In fact, there was so much grain that they stopped keeping record, because it was like counting the grains of sand along the beach.
9 (A) These men were our ancestors.
Joseph was also one of our famous ancestors. His brothers were jealous of him and sold him as a slave to be taken to Egypt. But God was with him 10 (B) and rescued him from all his troubles. God made him so wise that the Egyptian king Pharaoh thought highly of him. The king even made Joseph governor over Egypt and put him in charge of everything he owned.
11 (C) Everywhere in Egypt and Canaan the grain crops failed. There was terrible suffering, and our ancestors could not find enough to eat. 12 But when Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there for the first time. 13 (D) It was on their second trip that Joseph told his brothers who he was, and the king learned about Joseph's family.
14 (E) Joseph sent for his father and his relatives. In all, there were 75 of them. 15 (F) His father went to Egypt and died there, just as our ancestors did. 16 (G) Later their bodies were taken back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor.
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