Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer for Help—Praise for the Answer
28 O Lord, to You I call. O my Rock, listen to me. If You will not hear me, I will be like those who have gone down to the grave. 2 Hear my cry for loving-kindness as I call to You for help, and when I lift up my hands to Your holy place. 3 Do not drag me away with the sinful and with those who do bad things. They speak peace with their neighbors, while sin is in their hearts. 4 Pay them for their work and for the sins they do. Pay them for the works of their hands. Give them what they have earned. 5 They do not think about the works of the Lord and what His hands have done. So He will pull them down and not build them up again.
6 May honor and thanks be given to the Lord, because He has heard my prayer. 7 The Lord is my strength and my safe cover. My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. So my heart is full of joy. I will thank Him with my song. 8 The Lord is the strength of His people. He is a safe place for His chosen one. 9 Save Your people and bring good to what is Yours. Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Joseph Tells about Two Dreams
40 Some time later, the man who carried the king’s cup and the man who made the king’s bread did wrong against the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with these two important men, the head cup-carrier and the head bread-maker. 3 So he put them in prison under the care of the head of the soldiers, the same place where Joseph was in prison. 4 The head of the soldiers had Joseph watch over them. He took care of them, and they were in prison for a long time. 5 One night both the cup-carrier and the bread-maker of the king of Egypt had a dream while they were in prison. Each man had his own dream, and each dream had its own meaning. 6 When Joseph came in and looked at them in the morning, he saw that they were sad. 7 So he asked these men who had worked for Pharaoh and who were with him in prison in his boss’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?” 8 They said to him, “We have had a dream and there is no one to tell us what it means.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not the meanings of dreams belong to God? Tell them to me.”
9 So the head cup-carrier told his dream to Joseph. He said, “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me. 10 And there were three branches on the vine. Then its flowers grew out. From the many flowers came grapes ready to eat. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand. So I took the grapes and made wine from them and poured it into Pharaoh’s cup. And I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”
12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is the meaning of it: The three branches are three days. 13 Before three days are over, Pharaoh will give you honor and return you to your place of work. You will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand just like you did before when you were his cup-carrier. 14 But remember me when it is well with you, and show me kindness. Say a good word about me to Pharaoh. Get me out of this prison. 15 For I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews. And here also I have done nothing for which they should put me in prison.”
16 The head bread-maker saw that the meaning of the dream was good. He said to Joseph, “I had a dream also. There were three baskets of white bread on my head. 17 All kinds of food for Pharaoh were in the top basket. But the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
18 Then Joseph answered, “This is the meaning of it: The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and put your body up on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”
20 On the third day, Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a special supper for his servants. He gave honor to the head cup-carrier and the head bread-maker among his servants. 21 He returned the head cup-carrier to his place of work and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he killed the head bread-maker on a tree, just like Joseph had told them it would happen. 23 Yet the head cup-carrier did not remember Joseph. He forgot him.
The Wind and Waves Obey Jesus (A)
23 Jesus got into a boat. His followers followed Him. 24 At once a bad storm came over the lake. The waves were covering the boat. Jesus was sleeping. 25 His followers went to Him and called, “Help us, Lord, or we will die!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then He stood up. He spoke sharp words to the wind and the waves. Then the wind stopped blowing. 27 Then men were surprised and wondered about it. They said, “What kind of a man is He? Even the winds and the waves obey Him.”
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