Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Chapter 37
Joseph Sold into Egypt. 1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan.[a] 2 This is the story of the family of Jacob.[b] When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flocks with his brothers; he was an assistant to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and Joseph brought their father bad reports about them. 3 Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long ornamented tunic.[c] 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his brothers, they hated him so much that they could not say a kind word to him.
12 One day, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem, 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Are your brothers not tending our flocks at Shechem? Come and I will send you to them.” “I am ready,” Joseph answered. 14 “Go then,” he replied; “see if all is well with your brothers and the flocks, and bring back word.” So he sent him off from the valley of Hebron. When Joseph reached Shechem, 15 a man came upon him as he was wandering about in the fields. “What are you looking for?” the man asked him. 16 “I am looking for my brothers,” he answered. “Please tell me where they are tending the flocks.” 17 The man told him, “They have moved on from here; in fact, I heard them say, ‘Let us go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. 18 They saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 They said to one another: “Here comes that dreamer! 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We will see then what comes of his dreams.”(A)
21 [a]But when Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying: “We must not take his life.” 22 Then Reuben said, “Do not shed blood! Throw him into this cistern in the wilderness; but do not lay a hand on him.” His purpose was to save him from their hands and restore him to his father.(B)
23 So when Joseph came up to his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the long ornamented tunic he had on; 24 then they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm, and resin to be taken down to Egypt.(C) 26 Judah said to his brothers: “What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?(D) 27 Come, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed.
28 Midianite traders passed by, and they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver[b] to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.(E)
Psalm 105[a]
God’s Fidelity to the Promise
I
1 Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name;(A)
make known among the peoples his deeds!(B)
2 Sing praise to him, play music;
proclaim all his wondrous deeds!
3 Glory in his holy name;
let hearts that seek the Lord rejoice!
4 Seek out the Lord and his might;
constantly seek his face.(C)
5 Recall the wondrous deeds he has done,
his wonders and words of judgment,
6 You descendants of Abraham his servant,
offspring of Jacob the chosen one!
IV
16 Then he called down a famine on the land,
destroyed the grain that sustained them.[a](A)
17 He had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.(B)
18 They shackled his feet with chains;
collared his neck in iron,(C)
19 Till his prediction came to pass,
and the word of the Lord proved him true.(D)
20 The king sent and released him;
the ruler of peoples set him free.(E)
21 He made him lord over his household,
ruler over all his possessions,(F)
22 To instruct his princes as he desired,
to teach his elders wisdom.
45 That they might keep his statutes
and observe his teachings.(A)
Hallelujah!
5 [a]Moses writes about the righteousness that comes from [the] law, “The one who does these things will live by them.”(A) 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith says,(B) “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 [b]or ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”(C) 8 But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”(D)
(that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 for, if you confess[c] with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.(E) 10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11 For the scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”(F) 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him.(G) 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”(H)
14 [d]But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?(I) 15 And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written,(J) “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring [the] good news!”[e]
22 (A)Then he made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 (B)After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night,[a] he came toward them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. 27 At once [Jesus] spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I;[b] do not be afraid.” 28 Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. 30 (C)But when he saw how [strong] the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith,[c] why did you doubt?” 32 After they got into the boat, the wind died down. 33 [d](D)Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.