Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer for Mercy

A song for going up to worship.

The Brothers Go Back to Egypt

43 Still no food grew in the land of Canaan. ² Jacob’s family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt. So Jacob said to them, “Go to Egypt again. Buy a little more grain for us to eat.”

³ But Judah said to Jacob, “The governor of that country strongly warned us. He said, ‘Bring your brother back with you. If you don’t, you will not be allowed to see me.’ ⁴ If you will send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy food for you. ⁵ But if you refuse to send Benjamin, we will not go. The governor of that country warned us. He said we would not see him if we didn’t bring Benjamin with us.”

⁶ Jacob, also called Israel, said, “Why did you tell the man you had another brother? You have caused me a lot of trouble.”

⁷ The brothers answered, “He questioned us carefully about ourselves and our family. He asked us, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. How could we know he would ask us to bring our other brother to him?”

⁸ Then Judah said to his father Jacob, “Send Benjamin with me. Then we will go at once. Do this so that we, you and our children may live and not die. ⁹ I will guarantee you that he will be safe. I will be personally responsible for him. If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me all my life. ¹⁰ If we had not wasted all this time, we could have already made two trips.”

¹¹ Then their father Jacob said to them, “If it has to be that way, then do this: Take some of the best foods in our land in your packs. Give them to the man as a gift: some balm, some honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² Take twice as much money with you this time. Take back the money that was returned to you in your sacks last time. Maybe it was a mistake. ¹³ And take Benjamin with you. Now leave and go to the man. ¹⁴ I pray that God All-Powerful will cause the governor to be merciful to you. I pray that he will allow Simeon and Benjamin to come back with you. If I am robbed of my children, then I am robbed of them!”

¹⁵ So the brothers took the gifts. They also took twice as much money as they had taken the first time. And they took Benjamin. They hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ In Egypt Joseph saw Benjamin with them. Joseph said to the servant in charge of his house, “Bring those men into my house. Kill an animal and prepare a meal. Those men will eat with me today at noon.” ¹⁷ The servant did as Joseph told him. He brought the men to Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ The brothers were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They thought, “We were brought here because of the money that was put in our sacks on the first trip. He wants to attack us, make us slaves and take our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So the brothers went to the servant in charge of Joseph’s house. They spoke to him at the door of the house. ²⁰ They said, “Sir, we came here once before to buy food. ²¹ While we were going home, we stopped for the night and opened our sacks. Each of us found all his money in his sack. We brought that money with us to give it back to you. ²² And we have brought more money. It is to pay for the food we want to buy this time. We don’t know who put that money in our sacks.”

²³ But the servant answered, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks. I got the money you paid me for the grain last time.” Then the servant brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴ The servant led the men into Joseph’s house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave their donkeys food to eat. ²⁵ The men prepared their gift to give to Joseph when he arrived at noon. They had heard they were going to eat with him there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, the brothers gave him the gift they had brought into the house. Then they bowed down to the ground to him. ²⁷ Joseph asked them how they were doing. He said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ The brothers answered, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” And they bowed low before Joseph to show him respect.

²⁹ Then Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, who had the same mother as he. Joseph asked, “Is this your youngest brother you told me about?” Then Joseph said to Benjamin, “God be good to you, my son!” ³⁰ Then Joseph hurried off. He had to hold back the tears when he saw his brother Benjamin. So Joseph went into his room and cried there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out. He controlled himself and said, “Serve the meal.”

³² So they served Joseph at one table. They served his brothers at another table. And they served the Egyptians who ate with him at another table. This was because Egyptians did not like Hebrews and never ate with them. ³³ Joseph’s brothers were seated in front of him. They were in order of their ages, from oldest to youngest. And they looked at each other because they were so amazed. ³⁴ Food from Joseph’s table was taken to them. But Benjamin was given five times more food than the others. Joseph’s brothers drank with him until they were very drunk.

The Meeting at Jerusalem

15 Then some men came to Antioch from Judea. They began teaching the non-Jewish brothers: “You cannot be saved if you are not circumcised. Moses taught us to do this.” ² Paul and Barnabas were against this teaching and argued with the men about it. So the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some other men to Jerusalem. There they could talk more about this with the apostles and elders.

³ The church helped the men leave on the trip. They went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria, telling all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to God. This made all the believers very happy. ⁴ When they arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles, the elders, and the church welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about all the things that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of the believers who had belonged to the Pharisee group came forward. They said, “The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised. We must tell them to obey the law of Moses!”

⁶ The apostles and the elders gathered to study this problem. ⁷ There was a long debate. Then Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know what happened in the early days. God chose me from among you to preach the Good News to the non-Jewish people. They heard the Good News from me, and they believed. ⁸ God, who knows the thoughts of all men, accepted them. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. ⁹ To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, he made their hearts pure. ¹⁰ So now why are you testing God? You are putting a heavy load around the necks of the non-Jewish brothers. It is a load that neither we nor our fathers were able to carry. ¹¹ But we believe that we and they too will be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus!”

¹² Then the whole group became quiet. They listened to Paul and Barnabas speak. Paul and Barnabas told about all the miracles and signs that God did through them among the non-Jewish people. ¹³ After they finished speaking, James spoke. He said, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon has told us how God showed his love for the non-Jewish people. For the first time he has accepted them and made them his people. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets agree with this too:

¹⁹ “So I think we should not bother the non-Jewish brothers who have turned to God. ²⁰ Instead, we should write a letter to them. We should tell them these things: Do not eat food that has been offered to idols. (This makes the food unclean.) Do not take part in any kind of sexual sin. Do not taste blood. Do not eat animals that have been strangled. ²¹ They should not do these things, because there are still men in every city who teach the law of Moses. For a long time the words of Moses have been read in the synagogue every Sabbath day.”