Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(A song for worship.)

Trusting the Lord in Times of Trouble

The Missing Cup

44 ^1-2 Later, Joseph told the servant in charge of his house, “Fill the men's grain sacks with as much as they can hold and put their money in the sacks. Also put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother.” The servant did as he was told.

³ Early the next morning, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. ⁴ But they had not gone far from the city when Joseph told the servant, “Go after those men! When you catch them, say, ‘My master has been good to you. So why have you stolen his silver cup? ⁵ Not only does he drink from his cup, but he also uses it to learn about the future. You have done a terrible thing.’ ”

⁶ When the servant caught up with them, he said exactly what Joseph had told him to say. ⁷ But they replied, “Sir, why do you say such things? We would never do anything like that! ⁸ We even returned the money we found in our grain sacks when we got back to Canaan. So why would we want to steal any silver or gold from your master's house? ⁹ If you find that one of us has the cup, then kill him, and the rest of us will become your slaves.”

¹⁰ “Good!” the man replied, “I'll do what you have said. But only the one who has the cup will become my slave. The rest of you can go free.”

¹¹ Each of the brothers quickly put his sack on the ground and opened it. ¹² Joseph's servant started searching the sacks, beginning with the one that belonged to the oldest brother. When he came to Benjamin's sack, he found the cup. ¹³ This upset the brothers so much that they began tearing their clothes in sorrow. Then they loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers got there, Joseph was still at home. So they bowed down to Joseph, ¹⁵ who asked them, “What have you done? Didn't you know I could find out?”

¹⁶ “Sir, what can we say?” Judah replied. “How can we say we are innocent, when God has shown we are guilty? And now all of us are your slaves, especially the one who had the cup.”

¹⁷ Joseph told them, “I would never punish all of you. Only the one who was caught with the cup will become my slave. The rest of you are free to go home to your father.”

Judah Pleads for Benjamin

¹⁸ Judah went over to Joseph and said:

Sir, you have as much power as the king^[a] himself, and I am only your slave. Please don't get angry if I speak. ¹⁹ You asked us if our father was still alive and if we had any more brothers. ²⁰ So we told you, “Our father is a very old man. In fact, he was already old when Benjamin was born. Benjamin's brother is dead. Now Benjamin is the only one of the two brothers who is still alive, and our father loves him very much.”

²¹ You ordered us to bring him here, so you could see him for yourself. ²² We told you that our father would die if Benjamin left him. ²³ But you warned us that we could never see you again, unless our youngest brother came with us. ²⁴ So we returned to our father and reported what you had said.

²⁵ Later our father sent us back here to buy more grain. ²⁶ But we told him, “We can't go back to Egypt without our youngest brother. We will never be let in to see the governor, unless he is with us.”

²⁷ Sir, our father then reminded us that his favorite wife had given birth to two sons. ²⁸ One of them was already missing and had not been seen for a long time. My father thinks the boy was torn to pieces by some wild animal, ²⁹ and he said, “I am an old man. If you take Benjamin from me, and something happens to him, I will die of a broken heart.”

³⁰ That's why Benjamin must be with us when I go back to my father. He loves him so much ³¹ that he will die if Benjamin doesn't come back with me. ³² I promised my father that I would bring him safely home. If I don't, I told my father he could blame me the rest of my life.

³³ Sir, I am your slave. Please let me stay here in place of Benjamin and let him return home with his brothers. ³⁴ How can I face my father if Benjamin isn't with me? I couldn't bear to see my father in such sorrow.

¹³ I am now speaking to you Gentiles, and as long as I am an apostle to you, I will take pride in my work. ¹⁴ I hope in this way to make some of my own people jealous enough to be saved. ¹⁵ When Israel rejected God,^[a] the rest of the people in the world were able to turn to him. So when God makes friends with Israel, it will be like bringing the dead back to life. ¹⁶ If part of a batch of dough is made holy by being offered to God, then all of the dough is holy. If the roots of a tree are holy, the rest of the tree is holy too.

¹⁷ You Gentiles are like branches of a wild olive tree made to be part of a cultivated olive tree. You have taken the place of some branches that were cut away from it. And because of this, you enjoy the blessings that come from being part of that cultivated tree. ¹⁸ But don't think you are better than the branches that were cut away. Just remember you are not supporting the roots of this tree. Its roots are supporting you.

¹⁹ Maybe you think those branches were cut away, so you could be put in their place. ²⁰ That's true enough. But they were cut away because they did not have faith, and you are where you are because you do have faith. So don't be proud, but be afraid. ²¹ If God cut away those natural branches, couldn't he do the same to you?

²² Now you see both how kind and how hard God can be. He was hard on those who fell, but he was kind to you. And he will keep on being kind to you, if you keep on trusting in his kindness. Otherwise, you will be cut away too.

²³ If those other branches will start having faith, they will be made a part of that tree again. God has the power to put them back. ²⁴ After all, it wasn't natural for branches to be cut from a wild olive tree and to be made part of a cultivated olive tree. So it is much more likely that God will join the natural branches back to the cultivated olive tree.

The People of Israel Will Be Brought Back

²⁵ My friends, I don't want you Gentiles to be too proud of yourselves. So I will explain the mystery of what has happened to the people of Israel. Some of them have become stubborn, and they will stay like that until the complete number of you Gentiles has come in. ^26 (A) In this way all of Israel will be saved, as the Scriptures say,

²⁸ The people of Israel are treated as God's enemies, so the good news can come to you Gentiles. But they are still the chosen ones, and God loves them because of their famous ancestors. ²⁹ God doesn't take back the gifts he has given or disown the people he has chosen.