Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer for Mercy

A song for going up to worship.

¹⁶ When the king of Egypt and his officers learned that Joseph’s brothers had come, they were very happy. ¹⁷ So the king said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their animals and go back to the land of Canaan ¹⁸ and bring their father and their families back here to me. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they will eat the best food we have here. ¹⁹ Tell them to take some wagons from Egypt for their children and their wives and to bring their father back also. ²⁰ Tell them not to worry about bringing any of their things with them, because we will give them the best of what we have in Egypt.”

²¹ So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them wagons as the king had ordered and food for their trip. ²² He gave each brother a change of clothes, but he gave Benjamin five changes of clothes and about seven and one-half pounds of silver. ²³ Joseph also sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best things from Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and other food for his father on his trip back. ²⁴ Then Joseph told his brothers to go. As they were leaving, he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way home.”

²⁵ So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They told him, “Joseph is still alive and is the ruler over all the land of Egypt.” Their father was shocked and did not believe them. ²⁷ But when the brothers told him everything Joseph had said, and when Jacob saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him back to Egypt, he felt better. ²⁸ Israel^[a] said, “Now I believe you. My son Joseph is still alive, and I will go and see him before I die.”

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

8 When Jesus came down from the hill, great crowds followed him. ² Then a man with a skin disease came to Jesus. The man bowed down before him and said, “Lord, you can heal me if you will.”

³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and said, “I will. Be healed!” And immediately the man was healed from his disease. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. But go and show yourself to the priest^[a] and offer the gift Moses commanded^[b] for people who are made well. This will show the people what I have done.”

Jesus Heals a Soldier’s Servant

⁵ When Jesus entered the city of Capernaum, an army officer came to him, begging for help. ⁶ The officer said, “Lord, my servant is at home in bed. He can’t move his body and is in much pain.”

⁷ Jesus said to the officer, “I will go and heal him.”

⁸ The officer answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come into my house. You only need to command it, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ I, too, am a man under the authority of others, and I have soldiers under my command. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant does it.

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were following him, “I tell you the truth, this is the greatest faith I have found, even in Israel. ¹¹ Many people will come from the east and from the west and will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But those people who should be in the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.”

¹³ Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home. Your servant will be healed just as you believed he would.” And his servant was healed that same hour.