Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 103
A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquities,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 who satisfies your mouth with good things,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord does righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always accuse,
neither will He keep his anger forever.
10 He does not treat us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord gives compassion to those who fear Him.
Joseph Sold Into Slavery
12 Now his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.”
He answered, “Here I am.”
14 Israel said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 A certain man found him wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 And he said, “I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”
17 The man said, “They have departed from here. I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ”
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18 When they saw him some distance away, before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
19 They said one to another, “The master of dreams comes! 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into some pit, and we will say, ‘Some evil beast has devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams.”
21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not kill him.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him,” so that he might rescue him out of their hands and deliver him to his father again.
23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat—his coat of many colors that he had on. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty, and there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, carrying it down to Egypt.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let us not lay our hand on him, for he is our brother and our own flesh.” So his brothers agreed.
28 Then when the Midianite merchants passed by, they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver.[a] They took Joseph to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. 30 He returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is not there, and I, where can I go?”
31 They took Joseph’s coat and killed a young goat and dipped the coat in the blood. 32 Then they took the coat of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found. Do you know whether it is your son’s robe or not?”
33 He knew it and said, “It is my son’s coat. A wild beast has devoured him. Joseph has without a doubt been torn into pieces.”
34 Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his waist and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “For I will go down into the grave mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
36 Meanwhile the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
Love One Another
11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning: We should love one another, 12 not like Cain, who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s works were righteous. 13 Do not marvel, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love his brother remains in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
16 By this we know the love of God: that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.