Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 103[a]
By David.
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
With all that is within me, praise[b] his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Do not forget all his kind deeds.[c]
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases,[d]
4 who delivers[e] your life from the Pit,[f]
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your life with good things,[g]
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.[h]
6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed.[i]
7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts[j] to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient[a] and demonstrates great loyal love.[b]
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.[c]
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;[d]
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.[e]
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers[f] over his faithful followers.[g]
12 As far as the eastern horizon[h] is from the west,[i]
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions[j] from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,[k]
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.[l]
53 The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end. 54 Then the seven years of famine began,[a] just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food. 55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt,[b] “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”
56 While the famine was over all the earth,[c] Joseph opened the storehouses[d] and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt. 57 People from every country[e] came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.
Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt
42 When Jacob heard[f] there was grain in Egypt, he[g] said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?”[h] 2 He then said, “Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us[i] so that we may live[j] and not die.”[k]
3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers,[l] for he said,[m] “What if some accident[n] happens[o] to him?” 5 So Israel’s sons came to buy grain among the other travelers,[p] for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country.[q] Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down[r] before him with[s] their faces to the ground. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger[t] to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered,[u] “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.”[v]
8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies;[w] you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!”[x]
10 But they exclaimed,[y] “No, my lord! Your servants have come to buy grain for food! 11 We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men! Your servants are not spies.”
12 “No,” he insisted, “but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”[z] 13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers.[aa] We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time,[ab] and one is no longer alive.”[ac]
14 But Joseph told them, “It is just as I said to you:[ad] You are spies! 15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives,[ae] you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 One of you must go and get[af] your brother, while[ag] the rest of you remain in prison.[ah] In this way your words may be tested to see if[ai] you are telling the truth.[aj] If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 17 He imprisoned[ak] them all for three days.
9 The[a] patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold[b] him into Egypt. But[c] God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made[d] him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Then a famine occurred throughout[e] Egypt and Canaan, causing[f] great suffering, and our[g] ancestors[h] could not find food. 12 So when Jacob heard that there was grain[i] in Egypt, he sent our ancestors[j] there[k] the first time. 13 On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph’s family[l] became known to Pharaoh. 14 So Joseph sent a message[m] and invited[n] his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people[o] in all. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt and died there,[p] along with our ancestors,[q] 16 and their bones[r] were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money[s] from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
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