Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Joseph the Dreamer

37 Jacob stayed and lived in the land of Canaan. This is the same land where his father had lived. ² This is the story of Jacob’s family.

Joseph was a young man, 17 years old. His job was to take care of the sheep and the goats. Joseph did this work with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. (Bilhah and Zilpah were his father’s wives.) Joseph told his father about the bad things that his brothers did. ³ Joseph was born at a time when his father Israel was very old, so Israel loved him more than he loved his other sons. Jacob gave him a special coat, which was long and very beautiful.^{[a] 4} When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother because of this. They refused to say nice things to him.

¹² One day Joseph’s brothers went to Shechem to care for their father’s sheep. ¹³ Jacob said to Joseph, “Go to Shechem. Your brothers are there with my sheep.”

Joseph answered, “I will go.”

¹⁴ His father said, “Go and see if your brothers are safe. Come back and tell me if my sheep are all fine.” So Joseph’s father sent him from the Valley of Hebron to Shechem.

¹⁵ At Shechem, Joseph got lost. A man found him wandering in the fields. The man said, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ Joseph answered, “I am looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are with their sheep?”

¹⁷ The man said, “They have already gone away. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph followed his brothers and found them in Dothan.

Joseph Sold Into Slavery

¹⁸ Joseph’s brothers saw him coming from far away. They decided to make a plan to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to each other, “Here comes Joseph the dreamer. ²⁰ We should kill him now while we can. We could throw his body into one of the empty wells and tell our father that a wild animal killed him. Then we will show him that his dreams are useless.”

²¹ But Reuben wanted to save Joseph. He said, “Let’s not kill him. ²² We can put him into a well without hurting him.” Reuben planned to save Joseph and send him back to his father. ²³ When Joseph came to his brothers, they attacked him and tore off his long and beautiful coat. ²⁴ Then they threw him into an empty well that was dry.

²⁵ While Joseph was in the well, the brothers sat down to eat. They looked up and saw a group of traders^[a] traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were carrying many different spices and riches. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we get if we kill our brother and hide his death? ²⁷ We will profit more if we sell him to these traders. Then we will not be guilty of killing our own brother.” The other brothers agreed. ²⁸ When the Midianite traders came by, the brothers took Joseph out of the well and sold him to the traders for 20 pieces of silver. The traders took him to Egypt.

⁵ Moses writes about being made right by following the law. He says, “The person who obeys these laws is the one who will have life through them.”^{[a] 6} But this is what the Scriptures say about being made right through faith: “Don’t say to yourself, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’” (This means “Who will go up to heaven to get Christ and bring him down to earth?”) ⁷ “And don’t say, ‘Who will go down into the world below?’” (This means “Who will go down to get Christ and bring him up from death?”)

⁸ This is what the Scripture says: “God’s teaching is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.”^[b] It is the teaching of faith that we tell people. ⁹ If you openly say, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from death, you will be saved. ¹⁰ Yes, we believe in Jesus deep in our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we openly say that we believe in him, and so we are saved.

¹¹ Yes, the Scriptures say, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.”^{[c] 12} It says this because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all people. And he richly blesses everyone who looks to him for help. ¹³ Yes, “everyone who trusts in the Lord^[d] will be saved.”^[e]

¹⁴ But before people can pray to the Lord for help, they must believe in him. And before they can believe in the Lord, they must hear about him. And for anyone to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them. ¹⁵ And before anyone can go and tell them, they must be sent. As the Scriptures say, “How wonderful it is to see someone coming to tell good news!”^[f]

Jesus Walks on Water^(A)

²² Then Jesus made the followers get into the boat. He told them to go to the other side of the lake. He said he would come later. He stayed there to tell everyone they could go home. ²³ After Jesus said goodbye to the people, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. It was late, and he was there alone. ²⁴ By this time the boat was already a long way from shore. Since the wind was blowing against it, the boat was having trouble because of the waves.

²⁵ Between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus’ followers were still in the boat. Jesus came to them. He was walking on the water. ²⁶ When they saw him walking on the water, it scared them. “It’s a ghost!” they said, screaming in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus quickly spoke to them. He said, “Don’t worry! It’s me! Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter said, “Lord, if that is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “Come, Peter.”

Then Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. ³⁰ But while Peter was walking on the water, he saw the wind and the waves. He was afraid and began sinking into the water. He shouted, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Then Jesus caught Peter with his hand. He said, “Your faith is small. Why did you doubt?”

³² After Peter and Jesus were in the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ Then the followers in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God.”