Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Parashat Vayeshev
Joseph, Favored Son
37 Now Jacob dwelled in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the genealogies of Jacob.
When Joseph was 17 years old (he was a youth), he was shepherding the flocks with his brothers—with the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons because he was the son of his old age. So he had made him a long-sleeved tunic. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak to him in shalom.
Joseph Betrayed
12 Then his brothers went to graze their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers grazing the flocks in Shechem? Come, let me send you to them.”
“Here I am,” he said to him.
14 Then he said to him, “Go now, and check on the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flocks and bring word back to me.”
So he sent him from the valley of Hebron and he went to Shechem. 15 A man found him there, wandering in the field, and the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 “I’m looking for my brothers,” he said. “Please tell me where they’re grazing.”
17 The man said, “They moved on from here. For I heard them saying, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18 Now they saw him from a distance. Before he was close to them they plotted together against him in order to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes the master of dreams! 20 Come on now! Let’s kill him and throw him into one of those pits, so we can say that an evil animal devoured him. Then let’s see what becomes of his dreams.”
21 But Reuben heard and rescued him out of their hands, saying, “We must not beat him to death.” 22 In order to rescue him from their hand and to return him to his father, Reuben said to them, “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him!”
23 So as soon as Joseph came up to his brothers they stripped Joseph of his tunic (the long sleeved tunic that he had on). 24 Then they took him and threw him into the pit. (Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.)
25 Then they sat down to eat bread. When they looked up, behold, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balsam, and myrrh—going to bring them down to Egypt.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come on! 27 Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let’s not lay our hand on him—since he’s our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 28 When some men, Midianite merchants, passed by, they dragged Joseph up and out of the pit and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph to Egypt.
Tell His Wonders for Israel
Psalm 105
1 Praise Adonai, call upon His Name.
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him—
tell about all His wonders!
3 Glory in His holy Name.
Let the heart of those who seek Adonai rejoice.
4 Seek Adonai and His strength,
seek His face always.
5 Remember His wonders that He has done,
His miracles and the judgments of His mouth,
6 O seed of Abraham, His servant,
O children of Jacob, His chosen ones.
16 He called down a famine on the land.
He broke the whole supply of bread.
17 He sent a man before them—
Joseph, sold as a slave.
18 They hurt His feet with shackles,
he was put in irons—
19 till the time that his word came true—
the word of Adonai proved him true!
20 The king sent and released him.
The ruler of the peoples set him free.
21 He made him lord of his house,
ruler over all his possessions,
22 to discipline his princes at his will,
and teach his elders wisdom.
45 so that they might keep His statutes
and observe His laws.
Halleluyah!
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on Torah, “The man who does these things shall live by them.” [a] 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks in this way:
“Do not say in your heart,[b]
‘Who will go up into heaven?’[c]
(that is, to bring Messiah down),
7 or, ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’[d]
(that is, to bring Messiah up from the dead).”
8 But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”[e]
—that is, the word of faith
that we are proclaiming:
9 For if you confess with your mouth
that Yeshua is Lord,
and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
10 For with the heart it is believed for righteousness,
and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame.” [f] 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all—richly generous to all who call on Him. 13 For “Everyone who calls upon the name of Adonai shall be saved.”[g]
14 How then shall they call on the One in whom they have not trusted? And how shall they trust in the One they have not heard of? And how shall they hear without someone proclaiming? 15 And how shall they proclaim unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things!”
Testing Peter’s Faith to Walk on Water
22 Right away, Yeshua made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the hillside by Himself to pray. And when evening came, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already a long way[a] from land, tossed around by the waves, for the wind was against it. 25 Now in the fourth watch[b] of the night, Yeshua came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It’s a ghost!” And they cried out with fear.
27 But immediately, Yeshua spoke to them, saying, “Take courage! I am. Don’t be afraid.”
28 Answering, Peter said to Him, “Master, if it’s You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29 And He said, “Come!”
And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to go to Yeshua. 30 But seeing the wind, he became terrified. And beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Master, save me!”
31 Immediately Yeshua reached out His hand and grabbed him. And He said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You really are Ben-Elohim!”[c]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.