Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

5 Then there arose a great outcry from the common people and their wives against their brothers the [wealthier] Judeans. ² Some of them said, “Counting our sons and daughters, there are a lot of us! Allow us to get grain for them, so that we can eat and stay alive.” ³ There were also some who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, vineyards and homes in order to buy grain, because of the famine.” ⁴ Yet others said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s taxes against our fields and vineyards. ⁵ Now our flesh is no different from the flesh of our kinsmen, and our children are the same as their children; yet we are bringing our sons and daughters into bondage as slaves. Some of our daughters have gone into slavery already, and it’s beyond our power to do anything about it, because other men have our fields and vineyards.”

⁶ When I heard their outcry and the reasons for it, I became very angry. ⁷ I thought the matter over and then took issue with the nobles and rulers. I charged them, “You are lending against pledges, everyone to his brother”; and I summoned a great assembly to deal with them. ⁸ I said to them, “We, to the limit of our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Judeans who sold themselves to the pagans. Now you are selling your own brothers, and we will have to buy them back!” They stayed silent; they couldn’t think of anything to say. ⁹ I also said, “What you are doing is not good! You should be living in fear of our God, so that our pagan enemies won’t have grounds for deriding us. ¹⁰ Moreover, my brothers and my servants, I too have loaned them money and grain. Please, let’s stop making it so burdensome to go into debt. ¹¹ Please! Today! Give them back their fields, vineyards, olive groves and homes; also the hundred pieces of silver and the grain, wine and olive oil you demand from them as interest.”

¹² They answered, “We will give it back. We will require nothing from them. Yes, we will do it, just as you say.” Then I called the cohanim and took an oath from them that they would do as they had promised. ¹³ Shaking out the fold in my garment, I said, “May God thus shake every man from his house and from his work who fails to live up to this promise — may he be shaken out like this and made empty.” The whole assembly said, “Amen!” and praised Adonai; and the people did as they had promised.

³⁹ When Yosef and Miryam had finished doing everything required by the Torah of Adonai, they returned to the Galil, to their town Natzeret.

⁴⁰ The child grew and became strong and filled with wisdom — God’s favor was upon him.

⁴¹ Every year Yeshua’s parents went to Yerushalayim for the festival of Pesach. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up for the festival, as custom required. ⁴³ But after the festival was over, when his parents returned, Yeshua remained in Yerushalayim. They didn’t realize this; ⁴⁴ supposing that he was somewhere in the caravan, they spent a whole day on the road before they began searching for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ Failing to find him, they returned to Yerushalayim to look for him. ⁴⁶ On the third day they found him — he was sitting in the Temple court among the rabbis, not only listening to them but questioning what they said; ⁴⁷ and everyone who heard him was astonished at his insight and his responses. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were shocked; and his mother said to him, “Son! Why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried looking for you!” ⁴⁹ He said to them, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be concerning myself with my Father’s affairs?” ⁵⁰ But they didn’t understand what he meant.

⁵¹ So he went with them to Natzeret and was obedient to them. But his mother stored up all these things in her heart.

⁵² And Yeshua grew both in wisdom and in stature, gaining favor both with other people and with God.