Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 130
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 From the depths of disaster I appeal to You, O Eternal One:
2 Lord, hear my cry!
Attune Your ears to my humble prayer!
3 If You, Eternal One, recorded each offense,
Lord, who on earth could stand innocent?
4 But with You forgiveness exists;
that’s why true respect of You might flow.
5 So I wait for the Eternal—my soul awaits rescue—
and I put my hope in His transforming word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord to break into the world
more than night watchmen expect the break of day,
even more than night watchmen expect the break of day.
7 O Israel, ground your hope in the Eternal.
For in the Eternal lives the most loyal love,
and with Him comes the most abundant redemption.
8 He will ransom Israel
from all the sinful acts that stole you away.
43 Now the famine raged on across the land. 2 And after Jacob and his sons had eaten up all of the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father was ready to send them again.
Jacob: Go to Egypt again, and buy us some more food.
3 But Judah cautioned him.
Judah: The man who rules Egypt clearly warned us, Father, that he will not agree to see us again unless our brother Benjamin accompanies us. 4 If you will send Benjamin along with us, then we will go down and buy the food. 5 But if you won’t allow him to go, we will not go either because the man clearly told us, “You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.”
Jacob: 6 Why did you do this to me? Why did you tell this man you had another brother?
Joseph’s Brothers: 7 The man questioned us about every detail of ourselves and our relatives. He asked if our father was still alive and if we had another brother. What we told him was only in answer to all of his questions. How could we in any way know he would tell us to bring our brother down there?
Judah (to Israel, his father): 8 Send the boy with me, and let’s be on our way. It’s the only way we’re going to live through this famine and not die of hunger—you, us, and all of our little ones. 9 I will guarantee his safety. You can hold me personally responsible if I don’t bring him back to you in one piece. If anything happens to him, I am perfectly willing to bear the blame forever. 10 Had we not waited this long already, we could have made the journey twice now and have enough food.
Jacob: 11 All right. If that’s the way it has to be. But do this: take some of the best products our land has to offer; carry them in your bags and present them to the man as a gift—a little balm and honey, some gum and resin, some pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 This time, take double the money with you. Carry back the money that was returned in the top of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight on their part. 13 Take your brother, be on your way again, and go see the man. 14 And may the All-Powerful God[a] grant you mercy from this man, so that he sends back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am to suffer the loss of my children, then what am I to do?
15 So the brothers packed up the presents, and they took double the money and their brother Benjamin with them. Then they set off on their way down to Egypt, and they came before Joseph.
16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he spoke to his steward of his household.
Joseph: Bring the men into the house. Slaughter an animal, and prepare a feast. These men are to dine with me at noon today.
17 The man did as Joseph told him, and he brought the men to Joseph’s house. 18 The brothers became very concerned when they realized where they were being taken.
Joseph’s Brothers: It must be because of the money that was put back into our sacks the last time we were here. He’s looking for an opportunity to arrest us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.
19 They went up to the steward of the house as he was standing at the door.
Joseph’s Brothers: 20 My lord, we came down to Egypt the first time to buy food, 21 but on our return to Canaan when we came to our lodging place, we opened our sacks and were surprised to find each one’s money in the top of his sack. All our money was returned apparently, so we have brought it back with us. 22 We also brought additional money to buy more food. We don’t know who put our money back into our sacks the last time we were here.
Steward: 23 There is no need to worry or be afraid. Be at peace. Your God and the God of your father must have filled your sacks with this treasure. I received your money the last time.
In a while the steward brought Simeon out to see them. 24 After he had escorted all eleven men into Joseph’s house, given them water, and made sure they had washed their feet, he gave their donkeys some fodder. 25 The brothers prepared the presents they had brought for Joseph. It was almost noon, and they had learned they would be dining with him soon.
26 When Joseph arrived home, they brought the presents into the house. With gifts in hand, they bowed to the ground before him. 27 This time he greeted them warmly.
Joseph: Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?
Joseph’s Brothers: 28 Your servant, our father, is alive and well.
They bowed down again out of respect. 29 Then Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son.
Joseph: Is this your youngest brother whom you told me about last time? God’s grace be upon you, my son!
30 Joseph hurried from the room because he was overwhelmed with affection for his brother and was afraid he would cry in front of everyone. So he went into a private room and wept there. 31 After he regained his composure, he washed his face and came out. With a controlled voice, he commanded his servants.
Joseph: You may serve the meal.
32 The staff served Joseph, who was seated separately, and then his brothers, who were seated apart from other Egyptians invited to eat with Joseph that day. (You see Egyptians do not eat with Hebrews or any other foreigners because they find the practice utterly offensive.) 33 As the brothers were seated in front of him, the men noticed the arrangement, and they looked at each other amazed and amused for they were seated by age, the firstborn on one end, the youngest on the other. 34 They were served their portions from Joseph’s table, and everyone noticed Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. But they celebrated and drank freely until everyone was quite relaxed.
15 Their peace was disturbed, however, when certain Judeans came with this teaching: “Unless you are circumcised according to Mosaic custom, you cannot be saved.” 2 Paul and Barnabas argued against this teaching and debated with the Judeans vehemently, so the church selected several people—including Paul and Barnabas—to travel to Jerusalem to dialogue about this issue with the apostles and elders there. 3 The church sent them on their way. They passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, stopping to report to the groups of believers there that outsiders were now being converted. This brought great joy to them all. 4 Upon arrival in Jerusalem, the church, the apostles, and the elders welcomed them warmly; and they reported all they had seen God do. 5 But there were some believers present who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees. They stood up and asserted,
Pharisees: No, this is not acceptable. These people must be circumcised, and we must require them to keep the whole Mosaic law.
6 The apostles and elders met privately to discuss how this issue should be resolved. 7 There was a lot of debate, and finally Peter stood up.
These debates give a glimpse of the cultural tensions present between Jewish and Gentile believers throughout the New Testament writings. The early Jewish believers still follow the traditional Jewish practices of Sabbath rest and kosher food. This is fine, until Jewish and Gentile Christians must share a table. How can they be truly unified as one church without being able to sit down together for a meal? This council affirms—under the influence of the Spirit’s work—that the outsiders may become Christians without becoming Jews first; but the outsiders should respect their Jewish brothers’ beliefs so they can fellowship together. The decision is a model for church unity: artificial hurdles should not be imposed for inclusion, but groups should willingly sacrifice their freedoms to promote unity in the church.
Peter: My brothers, you all know that in the early days of our movement, God decided that I should be the one through whom the first outsiders would hear the good news and become believers. 8 God knows the human heart, and He showed approval of their hearts by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did for us. 9 In cleansing their hearts by faith, God has made no distinction between them and us. 10 So it makes no sense to me that some of you are testing God by burdening His disciples with a load that neither our forefathers nor we have been able to carry. 11 No, we all believe that we will be liberated through the grace of the Lord Jesus—they also will be rescued in the same way.
12 There was silence among them while Barnabas and Paul reported all the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among outsiders. 13 When they finished, James spoke.
James: My brothers, hear me. 14 Simon Peter reminded us how God first included outsiders in His favor, taking people from among them for His name. 15 This resonates with the words of the prophets:
16 “After this, I will return
and rebuild the house of David, which has fallen into ruins.
From its wreckage I will rebuild it;
17 So all the nations may seek the Eternal One—
including every person among the outsiders who has been called by My name.”[a]
This is the word of the Lord, 18 who has been revealing these things since ancient times.[b]
19 So here is my counsel: we should not burden these outsiders who are turning to God. 20 We should instead write a letter, instructing them to abstain from four things: first, things associated with idol worship; second, sexual immorality; third, food killed by strangling; and fourth, blood. 21 My reason for these four exceptions is that in every city there are Jewish communities where, for generations, the laws of Moses have been proclaimed; and on every Sabbath, Moses is read in synagogues everywhere.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.