Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Yahweh Will Redeem Israel

A Song of Ascents.

The Brothers Return to Egypt

43 ^(A)Now the famine was heavy in the land. ² And it happened when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” ³ Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “^(B)The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵ But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶ Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly ^[a]by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” ⁷ But they said, “The man questioned particularly about us and our kin, saying, ‘^(C)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we told him concerning these things. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸ Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, ^(D)that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ^9 (E)I myself will be the guarantee for him; from my hand you may require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then ^[b]I shall bear the sin before you all my days. ¹⁰ For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ^[c]bags, and bring them down to the man ^(F)as a present, a little ^[d](G)balm and a little honey, ^[e]aromatic gum and ^[f]myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² Now take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^(H)the money that was put back in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³ And take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; ¹⁴ and may ^[g](I)God Almighty ^(J)grant you compassion before the man, so that he will release to you ^(K)your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(L)if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” ¹⁵ So the men took ^(M)this present, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶ Then Joseph saw Benjamin with them and said to his ^(N)house steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and prepare it; for the men are to eat with me at noon.” ¹⁷ So the man did as Joseph said and ^[h]brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may ^[i]seek occasion against us and fall upon us and take us for slaves with our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So they came near to Joseph’s house steward and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, ²⁰ and they said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, ²¹ and it happened when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^(O)each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in ^[j]full. So ^(P)we have brought it back in our hand. ²² We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³ And he said, “^[k]Be well, do not be afraid. ^(Q)Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your money has come to me.” Then ^(R)he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^(S)gave them water, and they ^(T)washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder. ²⁵ So they prepared ^(U)the present ^[l]for Joseph’s coming at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ^[m]a meal there.

²⁶ Then Joseph came home, and they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and ^(V)bowed to the ground before him. ²⁷ And he asked them about their ^[n]well-being and said, “^(W)Is your old father ^[o]well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸ And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” ^(X)They bowed down and prostrated themselves. ²⁹ Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son. And he said, “Is this ^(Y)your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “^(Z)May God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ And Joseph hurried out for ^[p](AA)he was deeply stirred with compassion over his brother, and he sought a place to weep; and he entered his chamber and ^(AB)wept there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out; and he ^(AC)restrained himself and said, “Set the ^[q]meal.” ³² So they set the meal for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is ^(AD)an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³ And they ^[r]were seated before him, ^(AE)the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. ³⁴ And he took portions to them from ^[s]his own table, ^(AF)but Benjamin’s portion was five times greater than any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

The Jerusalem Council

15 ^(A)Some men came down from Judea and began teaching ^(B)the brothers, “Unless you are ^(C)circumcised according to ^(D)the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² And when Paul and Barnabas had not a little dissension and ^(E)debate with them, ^(F)the brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^(G)apostles and elders concerning this issue. ³ Therefore, being ^(H)sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^(I)Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(J)recounting in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all ^(K)the brothers. ⁴ When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and ^(L)the apostles and the elders, and they ^(M)reported all that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of ^(N)the sect of the ^(O)Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^(P)circumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

^6 (Q)Both the apostles and the elders came together to ^[a]look into this ^[b]matter. ⁷ And after there had been much ^(R)debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that ^[c]in the early days ^(S)God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^(T)the gospel and believe. ⁸ And God, ^(U)who knows the heart, testified to them ^(V)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹ and ^(W)He made no distinction between us and them, ^(X)cleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore why do you ^(Y)put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^(Z)neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹ But we believe that we are saved through ^(AA)the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹² And all the multitude kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^(AB)relating what ^(AC)signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James Issues a Judgment

¹³ Now after they had stopped speaking, ^(AD)James answered, saying, “Brothers, listen to me. ^14 (AE)Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of ^(AF)the Prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁹ Therefore ^(AN)I judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, ²⁰ but that we write to them that they abstain from ^(AO)things contaminated by idols and from ^(AP)sexual immorality and from ^(AQ)what is strangled and from blood. ²¹ For from ancient generations, ^(AR)Moses has those who preach him in every city, since ^[i]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”