Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Now Jacob dwelt in the land ^(A)where his father was a ^[a]stranger, in the land of Canaan. ² This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought ^(B)a bad report of them to his father.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was ^(C)the son of his old age. Also he ^(D)made him a tunic of many colors. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they ^(E)hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in ^(A)Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of ^(B)Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵ Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

¹⁶ So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. ^(C)Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷ And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in ^(D)Dothan.

¹⁸ Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, ^(E)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ Then they said to one another, “Look, this ^[a]dreamer is coming! ^20 (F)Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹ But ^(G)Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

²³ So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they ^(H)stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. ²⁴ Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

^25 (I)And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of ^(J)Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, ^(K)balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and ^(L)conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(M)let not our hand be upon him, for he is ^(N)our brother and ^(O)our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then ^(P)Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, ^(Q)and sold him to the Ishmaelites for ^(R)twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

The Eternal Faithfulness of the Lord^(A)

⁵ For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, ^(A)“The man who does those things shall live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, ^(B)“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ⁷ or, ^(C)“ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? ^(D)“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): ⁹ that ^(E)if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, ^(F)“Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For ^(G)there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for ^(H)the same Lord over all ^(I)is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For ^(J)“whoever calls ^(K)on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Israel Rejects the Gospel

¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear ^(L)without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

Jesus Walks on the Sea^(A)

²² Immediately Jesus ^[a]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. ^23 (B)And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. ^(C)Now when evening came, He was alone there. ²⁴ But the boat was now ^[b]in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

²⁵ Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him ^(D)walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^[c]“Be of good ^(E)cheer! ^[d]It is I; do not be afraid.”

²⁸ And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

²⁹ So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw ^[e]that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of ^(F)little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³ Then those who were in the boat ^[f]came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly ^(G)You are the Son of God.”