Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 124[a]
A song of ascents;[b] by David.
124 “If the Lord had not been on our side”—
let Israel say this.—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us,[c]
3 they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
4 The water would have overpowered us;
the current[d] would have overwhelmed[e] us.[f]
5 The raging water
would have overwhelmed us.[g]
6 The Lord deserves praise,[h]
for[i] he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives,[j] like a bird from a hunter’s snare.
The snare broke, and we escaped.
8 Our deliverer is the Lord,[k]
the Creator[l] of heaven and earth.
29 Then he instructed them,[a] “I am about to go[b] to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30 It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.”[c]
33 When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went[d] to his people.
The Burials of Jacob and Joseph
50 Then Joseph hugged his father’s face.[e] He wept over him and kissed him. 2 Joseph instructed the physicians in his service[f] to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming.[g] The Egyptians mourned for[h] him seventy days.[i]
4 When the days of mourning[j] had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court,[k] “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh,[l] 5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said,[m] “I am about to die. Bury me[n] in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’” 6 So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.”[o]
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him—the senior courtiers[p] of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 9 Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage.[q]
10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad[r] on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow.[s] There Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. 11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion[t] for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called[u] Abel Mizraim,[v] which is beyond the Jordan.
12 So the sons of Jacob did for him just as he had instructed them. 13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to bury his father.
Paul’s Mission
12 For we would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.[a] 13 But we will not boast beyond certain limits,[b] but will confine our boasting[c] according to the limits of the work to which God has appointed us,[d] that reaches even as far as you. 14 For we were not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach as far as you, because we were the first to reach as far as you with the gospel about Christ.[e] 15 Nor do we boast beyond certain limits[f] in the work[g] done by others, but we hope[h] that as your faith continues to grow, our work may be greatly expanded[i] among you according to our limits,[j] 16 so that we may preach the gospel in the regions that lie beyond you, and not boast of work already done in another person’s area. 17 But the one who boasts must boast in the Lord.[k] 18 For it is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person the Lord commends.
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