Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 130[a]
A song of ascents.[b]
130 From the deep water[c] I cry out to you, O Lord.
2 O Lord, listen to me.[d]
Pay attention to[e] my plea for mercy.
3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of[f] sins,
O Lord, who could stand before you?[g]
4 But[h] you are willing to forgive,[i]
so that you might[j] be honored.[k]
5 I rely on[l] the Lord.
I rely on him with my whole being;[m]
I wait for his assuring word.[n]
6 I yearn for the Lord,[o]
more than watchmen do for the morning,
yes, more than watchmen do for the morning.[p]
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord,
for the Lord exhibits loyal love,[q]
and is more than willing to deliver.[r]
8 He will deliver[s] Israel
from all their sins.[t]
The Second Journey to Egypt
43 Now the famine was severe in the land.[a] 2 When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Return, buy us a little more food.”
3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned[b] us, ‘You will not see my face[c] unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you send[d] our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
6 Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble[e] on me by telling[f] the man you had one more brother?”
7 They replied, “The man questioned us[g] thoroughly[h] about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’[i] So we answered him in this way.[j] How could we possibly know[k] that he would say,[l] ‘Bring your brother down’?”
8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will go immediately.[m] Then we will live[n] and not die—we and you and our little ones. 9 I myself pledge security[o] for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life.[p] 10 But if we had not delayed, we could have traveled there and back[q] twice by now!”
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 bags, and take a gift down to the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 12 Take double the money with you;[r] you must take back[s] the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks—perhaps it was an oversight. 13 Take your brother too, and go right away[t] to the man.[u] 14 May the Sovereign God[v] grant you mercy before the man so that he may release[w] your other brother[x] and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.”[y]
15 So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt[z] and stood before Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, “Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.” 17 The man did just as Joseph said; he[aa] brought the men into Joseph’s house.[ab]
18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of[ac] the money that was returned in our sacks last time.[ad] He wants to capture us,[ae] make us slaves, and take[af] our donkeys!” 19 So they approached the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20 They said, “My lord, we did indeed come down[ag] the first time[ah] to buy food. 21 But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money—the full amount[ai]—in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it.[aj] 22 We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We do not know who put the money in our sacks!”
23 “Everything is fine,”[ak] the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks.[al] I had your money.”[am] Then he brought Simeon out to them.
24 The servant in charge[an] brought the men into Joseph’s house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave food to their donkeys. 25 They got their gifts ready for Joseph’s arrival[ao] at noon, for they had heard[ap] that they were to have a meal[aq] there.
26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought inside,[ar] and they bowed down to the ground before him. 27 He asked them how they were doing.[as] Then he said, “Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?” 28 “Your servant our father is well,” they replied. “He is still alive.” They bowed down in humility.[at]
29 When Joseph looked up[au] and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”[av] 30 Joseph hurried out, for he was overcome by affection for his brother[aw] and was at the point of tears.[ax] So he went to his room and wept there.
31 Then he washed his face and came out. With composure he said,[ay] “Set out the food.” 32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers,[az] and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting[ba] to do so.)[bb] 33 They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest.[bc] The men looked at each other in astonishment.[bd] 34 He gave them portions of the food set before him,[be] but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk.[bf]
The Jerusalem Council
15 Now some men came down from Judea[a] and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised[b] according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate[c] with them, the church[d] appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with[e] the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this point of disagreement.[f] 3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia[g] and Samaria, they were relating at length[h] the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy[i] to all the brothers. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received[j] by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported[k] all the things God had done with them.[l] 5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees[m] who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary[n] to circumcise the Gentiles[o] and to order them to observe[p] the law of Moses.”
6 Both the apostles and the elders met together to deliberate[q] about this matter. 7 After there had been much debate,[r] Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago[s] God chose[t] me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message[u] of the gospel[v] and believe.[w] 8 And God, who knows the heart,[x] has testified[y] to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,[z] 9 and he made no distinction[aa] between them and us, cleansing[ab] their hearts by faith. 10 So now why are you putting God to the test[ac] by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke[ad] that neither our ancestors[ae] nor we have been able to bear? 11 On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through[af] the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they are.”[ag]
12 The whole group kept quiet[ah] and listened to Barnabas and Paul while they explained all the miraculous signs[ai] and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 After they stopped speaking,[aj] James replied,[ak] “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon[al] has explained[am] how God first concerned himself[an] to select[ao] from among the Gentiles[ap] a people for his name. 15 The[aq] words of the prophets agree[ar] with this, as it is written,
16 ‘After this[as] I[at] will return,
and I will rebuild the fallen tent[au] of David;
I will rebuild its ruins and restore[av] it,
17 so that the rest of humanity[aw] may seek the Lord,
namely,[ax] all the Gentiles[ay] I have called to be my own,’[az] says the Lord,[ba] who makes these things 18 known[bb] from long ago.[bc]
19 “Therefore I conclude[bd] that we should not cause extra difficulty[be] for those among the Gentiles[bf] who are turning to God, 20 but that we should write them a letter[bg] telling them to abstain[bh] from things defiled[bi] by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled[bj] and from blood. 21 For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times,[bk] because he is read aloud[bl] in the synagogues[bm] every Sabbath.”
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