Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God takes his place at the head of a large gathering of leaders.
He announces his decisions among them.
2 He says, “How long will you stand up for those who aren’t fair to others?
How long will you show mercy to sinful people?
3 Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died.
Protect the rights of people who are poor or treated badly.
4 Save those who are weak and needy.
Save them from the power of sinful people.
5 “You leaders don’t know anything.
You don’t understand anything.
You are in the dark about what is right.
Law and order have been destroyed all over the world.
6 “I said, ‘You leaders are like gods.
You are all children of the Most High God.’
7 But you will die, like mere human beings.
You will die like every other leader.”
8 God, rise up. Judge the earth.
All the nations belong to you.
4 The Lord says,
“The people of Judah have sinned again and again.
So I will judge them.
They have refused to obey my law.
They have not kept my rules.
Other gods have led them astray.
Their people of long ago
worshiped those gods.
5 So I will send fire to destroy Judah.
It will burn up Jerusalem’s forts.”
The Lord Judges Israel
6 The Lord says,
“The people of Israel have sinned again and again.
So I will judge them.
They sell into slavery those who have done no wrong.
They trade needy people
for a mere pair of sandals.
7 They grind the heads of the poor
into the dust of the ground.
They refuse to be fair to those who are crushed.
A father and his son have sex with the same girl.
They treat my name as if it were not holy.
8 They lie down beside every altar on clothes they have taken.
They lie on those clothes
until the owner pays back what is owed.
In the house of their God
they drink wine that was paid as fines.
9 “Yet I destroyed the Amorites
to make room in the land for my people.
The Amorites were as tall as cedar trees.
They were as strong as oak trees.
But I cut off their fruit above the ground
and their roots below it.
10 “People of Israel, I brought you up out of Egypt.
I led you in the desert for 40 years.
I gave you the land of the Amorites.
11 I raised up prophets from among your children.
I also set apart for myself some of your young people to be Nazirites.
Isn’t that true, people of Israel?”
announces the Lord.
9 “Jacob’s sons were jealous of their brother Joseph. So they sold him as a slave. He was taken to Egypt. But God was with him. 10 He saved Joseph from all his troubles. God made Joseph wise. He helped him to become the friend of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over Egypt and his whole palace.
11 “There was not enough food for all Egypt and Canaan. This brought great suffering. Jacob and his sons couldn’t find food. 12 But Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt. So he sent his sons on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was. Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family. The total number of people was 75. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt. There he and his family died. 16 Some of their bodies were brought back to Shechem. They were placed in a tomb Abraham had bought. He had purchased it from Hamor’s sons at Shechem. He had purchased it for a certain amount of money.
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