Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer in Troubled Times
Of David.
28 Lord, my Rock, I call out to you for help.
Do not be deaf to me.
If you are silent,
I will be like those in the grave.
2 Hear the sound of my prayer,
when I cry out to you for help.
I raise my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Don’t drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil.
They say, “Peace” to their neighbors.
But evil is in their hearts.
4 Pay them back for what they have done.
They have done evil.
Pay them back for what they have done.
Give them their reward.
5 They don’t understand what the Lord has done
or what he has made.
So he will knock them down
and not lift them up.
6 Praise the Lord.
He heard my prayer for help.
7 The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him, and he helps me.
I am very happy.
And I praise him with my song.
8 The Lord is powerful.
He gives power and victory to his chosen one.
9 Save your people.
Bless those who are your own.
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Joseph Is Sold to Potiphar
39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar was an officer to the king of Egypt. He was the captain of the palace guard. He bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. He lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.
3 Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph. He saw that the Lord made Joseph successful in everything he did. 4 So Potiphar was very happy with Joseph. He allowed Joseph to be his personal servant. He put Joseph in charge of the house. Joseph was trusted with everything Potiphar owned. 5 So Joseph was put in charge of the house. He was put in charge of everything Potiphar owned. Then the Lord blessed the people in Potiphar’s house because of Joseph. And the Lord blessed everything that belonged to Potiphar, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything he owned. Potiphar was not concerned about anything, except the food he ate.
Joseph Is Put into Prison
Now Joseph was well built and handsome. 7 After some time the wife of Joseph’s master began to desire Joseph. One day she said to him, “Have physical relations with me.”
8 But Joseph refused. He said to her, “My master trusts me with everything in his house. He has put me in charge of everything he owns. 9 There is no one in his house greater than I. He has not kept anything from me, except you. And that is because you are his wife. How can I do such an evil thing? It is a sin against God.”
10 The woman talked to Joseph every day, but he refused to have physical relations with her or even spend time with her.
11 One day Joseph went into the house to do his work as usual. He was the only man in the house at that time. 12 His master’s wife grabbed his coat. She said to him, “Come and have physical relations with me.” But Joseph left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house.
13 She saw what Joseph had done. He had left his coat in her hands and had run outside. 14 So she called to the servants in her house. She said, “Look! This Hebrew slave was brought here to shame us. He came in and tried to have physical relations with me. But I screamed. 15 My scream scared him, and he ran away. But he left his coat with me.” 16 She kept his coat until her husband came home. 17 And she told her husband the same story. She said, “This Hebrew slave you brought here came in to shame me! 18 When he came near me, I screamed. He ran away, but he left his coat.”
19 When Joseph’s master heard what his wife said Joseph had done, he became very angry. 20 So Potiphar arrested Joseph and put him into prison. This prison was where the king’s prisoners were put. And Joseph stayed there in the prison.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. The Lord caused the prison warden to like Joseph. 22 The prison warden chose Joseph to take care of all the prisoners. He was responsible for whatever was done in the prison. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s care. This was because the Lord was with Joseph. The Lord made Joseph successful in everything he did.
14 So what should we say about this? Is God unfair? In no way. 15 God said to Moses, “I will show kindness to anyone I want to show kindness. I will show mercy to anyone I want to show mercy.”[a] 16 So God will choose the one he decides to show mercy to. And his choice does not depend on what people want or try to do. 17 The Scripture says to the king of Egypt: “I made you king so I might show my power in you. In this way my name will be talked about in all the earth.”[b] 18 So God shows mercy where he wants to show mercy. And he makes stubborn the people he wants to make stubborn.
19 So one of you will ask me: “If God controls the things we do, then why does he blame us for our sins? Who can fight his will?” 20 Do not ask that. You are only human. And human beings have no right to question God. An object cannot tell the person who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 The man who makes a jar can make anything he wants to make. He can use the same clay to make different things. He can make one thing for special use and another thing for daily use.
22 It is the same way with what God has done. God wanted to show his anger and to let people see his power. But God patiently stayed with those people he was angry with—people who were ready to be destroyed. 23 God waited with patience so that he could make known his rich glory. He wanted to give that glory to the people who receive his mercy. He has prepared these people to have his glory, and 24 we are those people whom God called. He called us from the Jews and from the non-Jews. 25 As the Scripture says in Hosea:
“I will say, ‘You are my people’
to those I had called ‘not my people.’
And I will show my love
to those people I did not love.” Hosea 2:1, 23
26 “Now it is said to Israel,
‘You are not my people.’
But later they will be called
‘children of the living God.’” Hosea 1:10
27 And Isaiah cries out about Israel:
“There are so many people of Israel.
They are like the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will be saved.
28 For the Lord will quickly and completely punish the people on the earth.” Isaiah 10:22-23
29 It is as Isaiah said:
“The Lord of heaven’s armies
allowed a few of our descendants to live.
Otherwise we would have been completely destroyed
like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.”[c] Isaiah 1:9
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.