Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
This is a psalm that Asaph wrote.
God and the gods[a]
82 God calls the powerful rulers to meet in heaven.
He sits on his throne to judge them.
2 He asks them, ‘How long will you continue to judge people
in a way that is not fair?
How long will you say that wicked people are right?
Selah.
3 You must help poor people and those with no family
to receive justice.
Help those who have pain and trouble
to receive the help that they need.
4 Rescue weak and helpless people,
so that evil people cannot hurt them.
5 The powerful leaders know nothing
and they understand nothing.
They walk about in a dark place.
At the same time the foundation of the earth shakes![b]
6 I said, “You are gods.
You are all sons of the Most High God.
7 But you will die, as all people die.
You will come to an end, like all other rulers.” ’[c]
8 God, now do something!
Judge all the nations of the earth.
For they all belong to you.
A message to the people in Judah
4 The Lord says, ‘The people in Judah have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them.
They refused to obey my laws and my commands. They have listened to their false gods, Those are the same false gods that their ancestors served. 5 So I will send fire to Judah. The fire will completely burn the strong buildings that are in Jerusalem.’
A message to the people in Israel
6 The Lord says, ‘The people in Israel have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them.
They sold people that did not do wrong things. They sold them for silver. And they sold poor people for only the price of shoes. 7 They are not kind to poor people and they do not help them. A father and his son have sex with the same woman. They do not respect the holy way that I want them to live. 8 When they lend money to poor people, they take the poor people's clothes.[a] They do not return the clothes each night, as they should do. Instead they sleep on the clothes themselves. They do that at the places where they worship their gods. The rich people take money from poor people. They use that money to buy wine for themselves. Then they drink the wine in the temples of their gods.
9 Remember the Amorites. They were big and strong. They were like the tallest cedar trees and the strongest oak trees. But I destroyed all of them. 10 I brought you out of Egypt. After that, I led you through the wilderness for 40 years. Then I took you to the land where the Amorites lived, so that it would belong to you. 11 I chose some men among you to be prophets, and some to be Nazirites.[b] You Israelites know that it is true.’ That is what the Lord says.
9 One of Jacob's sons was called Joseph. Jacob was more kind to Joseph than to his other sons. For this reason, Joseph's brothers did not like him. So one day they took Joseph and they sold him as a slave. The men that bought Joseph took him to Egypt. There he became the slave of an important man. All this time, God took care of Joseph. 10 God saved him from all his troubles and he helped him to live in a wise way. Because of that, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, liked Joseph. He saw that Joseph was very wise. So Pharaoh gave Joseph authority to rule Egypt and everyone in the king's own house.
11 Then there was a famine everywhere in Egypt and in Canaan. Everyone was very hungry and they suffered a lot. Our ancestors also had no food to eat. 12 Jacob heard news that Pharaoh had stored a lot of wheat in Egypt. So he sent his sons there to buy food from Pharaoh. This was the first time that they went to Egypt.
13 Later, Jacob sent his sons back to Egypt for a second time. This time, Joseph told his brothers who he really was. As a result, Pharaoh came to know about Joseph's family. 14 After this, Joseph sent a message to his father, that he should also come to Egypt with his whole family. At that time, there were 75 people in Jacob's family.
15 So Jacob went to Egypt with all his family. Jacob and his 12 sons, our ancestors, lived there until they died.[a]
16 When the people of Israel left Egypt, they carried with them the dead bodies of Joseph and his family. They took them back to Shechem and they buried them in a hole for dead people there. Abraham had bought that ground in Shechem from the family of a man called Hamor. He had paid Hamor the right money for it.’[b]
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