Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Joseph Reveals His Identity
45 Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants,[a] so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers.(A) 2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt.(B) 5 And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life.(C) 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.[b] 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9 “Return quickly to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay. 10 You can settle in the land of Goshen(D) and be near me—you, your children, and your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all you have. 11 There I will sustain you, for there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you, your household, and everything you have will become destitute.”’(E) 12 Look! Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin can see that I’m[c] the one speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father here quickly.”(F)
14 Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. 15 Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept,[d] and afterward his brothers talked with him.
Psalm 133
Living in Harmony
A song of ascents. Of David.
1 How delightfully good
when brothers live together in harmony!(A)
2 It is like fine oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down Aaron’s beard
onto his robes.(B)
3 It is like the dew of Hermon[a]
falling on the mountains of Zion.(C)
For there the Lord has appointed the blessing—
life forevermore.(D)
Israel’s Rejection Not Total
11 I ask, then, has God rejected his people?(A) Absolutely not!(B) For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,(C) from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.(D) Or don’t you know(E) what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he pleads with God against Israel?
29 since God’s gracious gifts and calling(A) are irrevocable.[a](B) 30 As you once disobeyed God but now have received mercy through their disobedience, 31 so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also may now[b] receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience(C) so that he may have mercy on all.
Defilement Is from Within
10 Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles(A) a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.”(B)
12 Then the disciples came up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted.(C) 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides.[a] And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”(D)
15 Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.”(E)
16 “Do you still lack understanding?” he[b] asked. 17 “Don’t you realize[c] that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated?[d] 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person.(F) 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies,(G) slander.(H) 20 These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”(I)
A Gentile Mother’s Faith
21 When Jesus left there,(A) he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon.(B) 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out,[a] “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”(C)
23 Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples(D) approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”
24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”(E)
25 But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!”
26 He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”(F)
27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment[b] her daughter was healed.(G)
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