Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Waiting for the Redemption of the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

Joseph’s Brothers Return with Benjamin

43 Now the famine was ^(A)severe in the land. ² And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go ^(B)back, buy us a little food.”

³ But Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your ^(C)brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵ But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”

⁶ And Israel said, “Why did you deal so ^[a]wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?”

⁷ But they said, “The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸ Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may ^(D)live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹ I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. ^(E)If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰ For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.”

¹¹ And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and ^(F)carry down a present for the man—a little ^(G)balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money ^(H)that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³ Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man. ¹⁴ And may God ^(I)Almighty ^(J)give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. ^(K)If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”

¹⁵ So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went ^(L)down to Egypt; and they stood before Joseph. ¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ^(M)steward of his house, “Take these men to my home, and slaughter ^[b]an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷ Then the man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ Now the men were ^(N)afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may ^[c]make a case against us and seize us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys.”

¹⁹ When they drew near to the steward of Joseph’s house, they talked with him at the door of the house, ²⁰ and said, “O sir, ^(O)we indeed came down the first time to buy food; ²¹ but ^(P)it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand. ²² And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.”

²³ But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought ^(Q)Simeon out to them.

²⁴ So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^(R)gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. ²⁵ Then they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there.

²⁶ And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and ^(S)bowed down before him to the earth. ²⁷ Then he asked them about their well-being, and said, “Is your father well, the old man ^(T)of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ And they answered, “Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive.” ^(U)And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves.

²⁹ Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, ^(V)his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother ^(W)of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Now ^(X)his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and ^(Y)wept there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, “Serve the ^(Z)bread.”

³² So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the ^(AA)Hebrews, for that is ^(AB)an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³ And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his ^(AC)birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another. ³⁴ Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was ^(AD)five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.

Conflict over Circumcision

15 And ^(A)certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ^(B)“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that ^(C)Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

³ So, ^(D)being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(E)describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. ⁴ And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

The Jerusalem Council

⁶ Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. ⁷ And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: ^(F)“Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁸ So God, ^(G)who knows the heart, ^[a]acknowledged them by ^(H)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, ^9 (I)and made no distinction between us and them, ^(J)purifying their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore, why do you test God ^(K)by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ But ^(L)we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus ^[b]Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

¹² Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had ^(M)worked through them among the Gentiles. ¹³ And after they had ^[c]become silent, ^(N)James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: ^14 (O)Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

^18 [e]“Known to God from eternity are all His works. ¹⁹ Therefore ^(Q)I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who ^(R)are turning to God, ²⁰ but that we ^(S)write to them to abstain ^(T)from things polluted by idols, ^(U)from ^[f]sexual immorality, ^(V)from things strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, ^(W)being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”