Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
37 (0) By David:
(1) Don’t be upset by evildoers
or envious of those who do wrong,
2 for soon they will wither like grass
and fade like the green in the fields.
3 Trust in Adonai, and do good;
settle in the land, and feed on faithfulness.
4 Then you will delight yourself in Adonai,
and he will give you your heart’s desire.
5 Commit your way to Adonai;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will make your vindication shine forth like light,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before Adonai;
wait patiently till he comes.
Don’t be upset by those whose way
succeeds because of their wicked plans.
8 Stop being angry, put aside rage,
and don’t be upset — it leads to evil.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
but those hoping in Adonai will inherit the land.
10 Soon the wicked will be no more;
you will look for his place, and he won’t be there.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.
39 Adonai is the one who saves the righteous;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 Adonai helps them and rescues them,
rescues them from the wicked and saves them;
because they take refuge in him.
Parashah 11: Vayigash (He approached) 44:18–47:27
18 Then Y’hudah approached Yosef and said, “Please, my lord! Let your servant say something to you privately; and don’t be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father? or a brother?’ 20 We answered my lord, ‘We have a father who is an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one whose brother is dead; so that of his mother’s children he alone is left; and his father loves him.’ 21 But you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I can see him.’ 22 We answered my lord, ‘The boy can’t leave his father; if he were to leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 You said to your servants, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 24 We went up to your servant my father and told him what my lord had said; 25 but when our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us some food,’ 26 we answered, ‘We can’t go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go down, because we can’t see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons: 28 the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I haven’t seen him since. 29 Now if you take this one away from me too, and something happens to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sh’ol with grief.’ 30 So now if I go to your servant my father, and the boy isn’t with us — seeing how his heart is bound up with the boy’s heart — (ii) 31 when he sees that the boy isn’t with us, he will die; and your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sh’ol with grief. 32 For your servant himself guaranteed his safety; I said, ‘If I fail to bring him to you, then I will bear the blame before my father forever.’ 33 Therefore, I beg you, let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. 34 For how can I go up to my father if the boy isn’t with me? I couldn’t bear to see my father so overwhelmed by anguish.”
57 Why don’t you decide for yourselves what is the right course to follow? 58 If someone brings a lawsuit against you, take pains to settle with him first; otherwise he will take the matter to court, and the judge will turn you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff will throw you in jail. 59 I tell you, you won’t get out of there till you have paid the last penny!”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.