Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Psalm of David.

Aleph

¹ ¶ Do not be angry with the evildoers, neither be thou envious of the workers of iniquity.

² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb.

Beth

³ Wait in the LORD and do good; live in the land and uphold the truth.

⁴ In the same manner delight thyself in the LORD, and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart.

Gimel

⁵ Turn thy way unto the LORD and wait in him, and he shall bring it to pass.

⁶ And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy uprightness as the noonday.

Daleth

⁷ ¶ Be silent before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not be angry with him who prospers in his way, with the man who brings wicked devices to pass.

He

⁸ Cease from anger and forsake wrath: let not thy wrath in any wise cause you to become evil.

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off; but those that wait for the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

Vau

¹⁰ For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Tau

³⁹ But the salvation of the righteous is the LORD; he is their strength in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰ And the LORD helped them and delivers them; he shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they wait in him.

¹⁸ ¶ Then Judah came near unto him and said, Oh my lord, let thy slave, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy slave; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

¹⁹ My lord asked his slaves, saying, Have ye a father or a brother?

²⁰ And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a young man of his old age, yet a lad; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.

²¹ And thou didst say unto thy slaves, Bring him down unto me that I may set my eyes upon him.

²² And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die.

²³ And thou didst say unto thy slaves, Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

²⁴ And it came to pass when we came up unto thy slave my father, we told him the words of my lord.

²⁵ And our father said, Go again and buy us a little food.

²⁶ And we said, We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then will we go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.

²⁷ Then thy slave my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bore me two sons;

²⁸ and the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces, and I have not seen him since;

²⁹ and if ye take this one also from me and some disaster should befall him, ye shall bring my gray hairs with sorrow down to Sheol.

³⁰ Now therefore when I come to thy slave my father, and the lad is not with us, seeing that his soul is bound up in the lad’s soul,

³¹ it shall come to pass when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy slaves shall bring the gray hairs of thy slave our father down with sorrow to Sheol.

³² For thy slave became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the sin before my father for ever.

³³ Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy slave remain instead of the lad as a bond slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren.

³⁴ For how shall I go up to my father and the lad not be with me? I cannot go lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.

⁵⁷ Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?

⁵⁸ When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou may be delivered from him, lest he drag thee away to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.

⁵⁹ I tell thee, in no wise shalt thou come out of there until thou hast paid the very last mite.