Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 130[a]
Prayer for Pardon and Peace
1 A song of ascents.
Out of the depths[b] I cry to you, O Lord;
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cries of supplication.[c]
3 If you, O Lord, kept a record of our sins,
O Lord, who could stand[d] upright?
4 But with you there is forgiveness
so that you may be revered.[e]
5 I wait for the Lord[f] in anxious expectation;
I place my hope in his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the dawn.
More than watchmen wait for the dawn[g]
7 [h]let Israel wait for the Lord.
For with the Lord there is kindness,
as well as plenteous redemption.
8 He alone will redeem Israel
from all its sins.
Chapter 43
The Sons of Jacob Set Out Again for Egypt.[a] 1 The famine continued to grow more severe in the land. 2 When they had finished eating the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Return there to buy a little more food for us.”
3 But Judah said to him, “That man told us harshly, ‘You shall not come into my presence if you do not have your brother with you.’ 4 If you are willing to let us leave with our brother, then we will go down there and buy grain. 5 But if you will not let him leave, we will not go because of what that man told us: ‘You shall not come into my presence if you do not have your brother with you.’ ”
6 Israel said, “Why have you done this evil thing to me, to let that man know that you had another brother?”
7 They answered, “That man interrogated us, demanding to know about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have some other brothers?’ and we answered his questions. How could we know that he would have said, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
8 Judah said to Israel his father, “Let the young one come with me. We will leave immediately, so that we might live and not die, we, you, and our children. 9 I will make myself the pledge for him. You will receive him from my hand. If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear this guilt in your eyes all my life. 10 If you had not hesitated, we could have already gone there and back twice by now.”
11 Israel their father answered, “If this is the way it is, do it. Pack your bags with the choice products of the land to give to that man as a gift: some balsam, a bit of honey, resin, gum, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12 Take double the amount of money with you. Take back the money that you found in the mouth of your sacks; maybe there was a mistake. 13 Take your brother as well; leave and return to that man. 14 May God Almighty help you to find mercy with that man so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I must mourn my children, I will do so.”
15 The Sons of Jacob Are Guests of Joseph.[b] The men therefore took the gifts, double the money, and Benjamin and left. They went down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his head steward: “Bring these men into the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it. They are to eat the noonday meal with me.”
17 The steward did what Joseph had ordered and brought the men into his house. 18 They were worried when they were brought into Joseph’s house and they said, “He brought us here because of the money that was placed back in our sacks the other time. They are going to fall upon us and make us slaves and take our donkeys as well.”
19 So they approached Joseph’s head steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house 20 saying, “My lord, we came one other time to buy provisions. 21 When we arrived at the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each one discovered his money in the mouth of the sack. It was the exact amount of money we had brought. But we have brought it back 22 and we brought some other money as well to buy more food. We do not know who placed our money in the sacks.”
23 But he told them, “Be at peace! Do not fear! Your God and the God of your fathers placed riches in your sacks. I received your money.” And he brought Simeon to them.
24 The steward led the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water to wash their feet, and provided forage for their donkeys. 25 They prepared their gifts while they waited for Joseph to arrive at noon, for they knew that they were to eat in that place.
26 When Joseph arrived, they presented to him the gifts that they had with them, and they bowed their faces to the ground before him. 27 He asked them how they were and said, “How is your aged father, the one about whom you have spoken? Is he still alive?”
28 They answered, “Your servant, our father, is well, and he is still alive,” and they knelt and bowed down.
29 Looking up, he saw Benjamin, his brother, the son of his mother, and said, “Is this your youngest brother about whom you have spoken?” He added, “God bless you, my son!” 30 Joseph went out in a rush, for he was deeply moved at seeing his brother and he was close to tears. He went into his room and wept there.
31 Then he washed his face, went out, and, controlling his emotions, ordered, “Serve the meal.”
32 He was served separately, then his brothers, and then the Egyptians, for Egyptians cannot eat with Hebrews. It would be an abomination for them. 33 He sat them before himself from the firstborn to the youngest, each in the order of his birth. They looked at each other with awe. 34 He served them a portion taken from his own table, but the portion he gave to Benjamin was five times larger than that given to all the others. They then drank with him until they were lighthearted.
Chapter 15
The Council of Jerusalem[a]
The Question of Circumcision. Some men who had come down from Judea were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised in accordance with the tradition of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 As a result, Paul and Barnabas engaged in a lengthy and acrimonious debate with them, and finally it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.3 So the church sent them on their journey; and as they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported how the Gentiles had been converted, and this news was received with great joy by all the brethren. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the Church and by the apostles and the elders, and they gave a report of all that God had accomplished through them. 5 But some from the group of Pharisees who had become believers stood up and declared, “It is necessary for the Gentiles to be circumcised and ordered to observe the Law of Moses.”
Salvation through the Grace of Christ. 6 The apostles and the elders convened to consider this matter. 7 After a long period of debate, Peter stood up to address them. “Brethren,” he said, “you are well aware that in the early days God made his choice among you that it would be through my mouth that the Gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and become believers. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by giving to them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between them and us, for he purified their hearts by faith.
10 “Therefore, why are you determined to try God’s patience by laying a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither we nor our ancestors have found easy to bear? 11 On the contrary, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are, through the grace of the Lord Jesus.” 12 On hearing this, the whole assembly fell silent, and they listened as Barnabas and Paul described all the signs and wonders that God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
13 James on Dietary Law. After they had finished speaking, James responded, “Brethren, listen to me. 14 Simon[b] has related how God first looked favorably upon the Gentiles and took from among them a people for his name. 15 This agrees with the words of the Prophets, as it is written,
16 ‘After this I will return
and rebuild the fallen tent of David.
From its ruins I will rebuild it
and raise it up again,
17 so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
as well as all the Gentiles whom I have claimed as my own.
Thus says the Lord who is doing this,
18 as he made known from long ago.’
19 “Therefore, I have come to this decision. We should not make things more difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Rather, we should send a letter simply instructing them to abstain from things that have been polluted by idols, from unchastity, from the meat of animals that have been strangled, and from blood. 21 For in every town for many generations, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he is read aloud in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
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