Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 133[a]
The Blessings of Brotherly Accord
1 A song of ascents. Of David.[b]
How wonderful and delightful it is
for brothers to live together in unity.[c]
2 It is like fragrant ointment poured on the head,
running down upon the beard,
running down upon the beard of Aaron,
and flowing on the collar of his robes.[d]
3 It is like the dew of Hermon
falling upon the mountains of Zion.[e]
For there the Lord has bestowed his blessing,
life forevermore.
29 The Death of Jacob. Then he gave this command: “I am about to be reunited with my ancestors. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is found in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre in the land of Canaan. This is the cave that Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, as his burial ground. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there they buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it used to belong to the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob had finished giving this command to his sons, he drew back his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was reunited with his ancestors.
Chapter 50
1 Joseph threw himself on the face of his father. He wept upon him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph ordered his doctors to embalm Israel. 3 This took forty days, the time it takes to embalm. The Egyptians mourned for him for seventy days.
4 When the days of mourning were over, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh. He said, “If I have found favor in your sight, I wish to speak these words into the ears of Pharaoh: 5 My father made me take an oath: ‘Behold, I am about to die. Bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.’ May I go to bury my father and return?”
6 Pharaoh answered, “Go and bury your father as you have vowed to do.”
7 Joseph went to bury his father, and all the ministers of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as the household of Joseph and his brothers and the household of his father went with him. Only the children, flocks, and herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 Even the war chariots and the charioteers formed an imposing caravan.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, which is on the other side of the Jordan, they performed a great and solemn ritual mourning, and Joseph did seven days of mourning for his father. 11 The Canaanites living in that land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad and said, “It is a solemn funeral for the Egyptians.” Because of this they called the place Abel-mizraim, and it is on the other side of the Jordan.
12 Jacob’s sons did what he had commanded them to do for him. 13 They brought him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, the field that Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite to be his burial place and that faces Mamre. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt together with his brothers and those who had gone with him to bury his father.
13 Therefore, let us cease passing judgment on one another, but rather judge never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know, and am convinced in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. However, it is unclean for someone who believes it to be unclean.
15 If your brother is seriously offended by what you eat, then you are no longer being guided by love. Do not allow the food that you eat to destroy anyone for whom Christ died. 16 Do not let what you think is good to become what others say is evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 The one who serves Christ in such things is pleasing to God and respected by others.
19 Let us[a] then pursue the ways that lead to peace and mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to cause others to fall by what you eat. 21 It is best not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that causes your brother to stumble.
22 Whatever faith you have, keep it between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to condemn himself because of what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act from faith. Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
Chapter 15
Patience and Self-Denial. 1 Those of us who are strong must resolve to put up with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves. 2 Each of us must consider his neighbor’s good for the purpose of building him up.
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