Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Joseph Reveals Himself

45 Now Joseph could no longer restrain himself in front of all those who were standing by him, so he cried out, “Get everyone away from me!” So no one stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² But he gave his voice to weeping so that the Egyptians heard, and Pharaoh’s household heard. ³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” And his brothers were unable to answer him because they were terrified at his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” So they came near. “I’m Joseph, your brother—the one you sold to Egypt,” he said. ⁵ “So now, don’t be grieved and don’t be angry in your own eyes that you sold me here—since it was for preserving life that God sent me here before you. ⁶ For there has been two years of famine in the land, and there will be five more years yet with no plowing or harvesting. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to ensure a remnant in the land and to keep you alive for a great escape. ⁸ So now, it wasn’t you, you didn’t send me here, but God! And He made me as a father to Pharaoh, lord over his whole house and ruler over the entire land of Egypt.

⁹ “Go up quickly to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son, Joseph: God has made me lord over all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t delay. ¹⁰ Then you’ll live in the land of Goshen, and be close to me, you and your children and your children’s children, your flocks and your cattle, and everything that belongs to you. ¹¹ I’ll provide food for you there—for the famine will last another five years—otherwise you’ll lose everything, you and your household, and everything that belongs to you.’ ¹² And look, you and my brother Benjamin can see with your own eyes that it’s my mouth that’s speaking to you. ¹³ You must tell my father about all my honor in Egypt, and about all that you’ve seen. And you must quickly bring my father down here.”

¹⁴ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept while Benjamin wept upon his neck, ¹⁵ and he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. Finally after this, his brothers talked with him.

Blessing of Unity

Psalm 133

Israel Not Rejected

11 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He?^[a] May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not rejected His people whom He knew beforehand.^[b] Or do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

²⁹ for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ^{[a] 30} For just as you once were disobedient to God but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ in like manner these also have now been disobedient with the result that, because of the mercy shown to you, they also may receive mercy. ³² For God has shut up all in disobedience, so that He might show mercy to all.

¹⁰ Then Yeshua called the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹ It’s not what goes into the mouth that makes the man unholy; but what comes out of the mouth, this makes the man unholy.”^[a]

¹² Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this saying?”

¹³ But He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵ Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

¹⁶ “Are you also still lacking understanding?” Yeshua said. ¹⁷ “Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is ejected into the sewer? ¹⁸ But the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and those things make the man unholy. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. ^{[b] 20} These are the things that make the man unholy; but to eat with unwashed hands does not make the man unholy.”

A Reward for a Humble Woman

²¹ Now Yeshua left from there and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, O Master, Ben-David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”

²³ But He did not answer her a word. And when His disciples came, they were urging Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.”

²⁴ But He responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵ So she came and got down on her knees before Him, saying, “Master, help me!”

²⁶ And answering, He said, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁷ But she said, “Yes, Master, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Then answering, Yeshua said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed in that very hour.