Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Safe Place for Those Who Trust in the Lord

37 Do not trouble yourself because of sinful men. Do not want to be like those who do wrong. ² For they will soon dry up like the grass. Like the green plant they will soon die. ³ Trust in the Lord, and do good. So you will live in the land and will be fed. ⁴ Be happy in the Lord. And He will give you the desires of your heart. ⁵ Give your way over to the Lord. Trust in Him also. And He will do it. ⁶ He will make your being right and good show as the light, and your wise actions as the noon day.

⁷ Rest in the Lord and be willing to wait for Him. Do not trouble yourself when all goes well with the one who carries out his sinful plans. ⁸ Stop being angry. Turn away from fighting. Do not trouble yourself. It leads only to wrong-doing. ⁹ For those who do wrong will be cut off. But those who wait for the Lord will be given the earth. ¹⁰ A little while, and the sinful man will be no more. You will look for his place, and he will not be there. ¹¹ But those who have no pride will be given the earth. And they will be happy and have much more than they need.

³⁹ But the saving of those who are right with God is from the Lord. He is their strength in time of trouble. ⁴⁰ The Lord helps them and takes them out of trouble. He takes them away from the sinful, and saves them, because they go to Him for a safe place.

¹⁸ Then Judah came near to him, and said, “O my lord, let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears. Do not be angry with your servant. For you are like Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ We said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and a young brother who was born to him when he was old. Now his brother is dead. So he is all that is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’ ²¹ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him here to me, so I may see him.’ ²² But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. For if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ ²³ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes here with you, you will not see my face again.’

²⁴ “When we returned to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said. ²⁵ Our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little food.’ ²⁶ But we said, ‘We cannot go there. If our youngest brother is with us, we will go there. For we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²⁷ “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave birth to two of my sons. ²⁸ One left me, and I said, “For sure he is torn to pieces.” I have not seen him since. ²⁹ If you take this one also from me, and something happens to him, you will bring my white hair down to the grave in sorrow.’ ³⁰ My father’s life and the boy’s life are one. If I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, ³¹ when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. So your servants will bring the white hair of your servant our father down to the grave in sorrow. ³² For I put myself as trust for the boy to my father. I said, ‘If I do not return him to you, then let the blame be on me forever.’ ³³ So let your servant stay and work for my lord, instead of the boy. Let the boy go home with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I am afraid to see the sorrow that my father would suffer.”

⁵⁷ Why do you not know for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ When a person says you are wrong and takes you to court, try to make it right with him as you go, or he will take you to the head of the court. Then he will take you to the police and you will be put in prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not be let out of prison until you have paid the last piece of money of the fine.”