Lectionary Theme: Senior Citizens Sunday: Senior Citizens – Model for the generations (17th Sunday after Pentecost)
September 15 2024
1. After this Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” he summoned his strength and sat up in bed.
3. And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me,
4. and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers; I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding.’
5. Therefore your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are now mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are.
6. As for the offspring born to you after them, they shall be yours. They shall be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance.
7. For when I came from Paddan, Rachel, alas, died in the land of Canaan on the way, while there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8. When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”
9. Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.”
10. Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them.
11. Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face; and here God has let me see your children also.”
12. Then Joseph removed them from his father’s knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13. Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them near him.
14. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15. He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
16. the angel who has redeemed me from all harm, bless the boys; and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude on the earth.”
17. When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18. Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.”
19. But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”
20. So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will invoke blessings, saying, ‘God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21. Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your ancestors.
22. I now give to you one portion more than to your brothers, the portion that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
48. After this Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
12. Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling,
13. for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14. Do all things without murmuring and arguing,
15. so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world,
16. holding forth the word of life so that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
17. But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the service of your faith, I rejoice, and I rejoice together with all of you;
18. in the same way also you should rejoice and rejoice together with me.
1. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you:
2. proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.
3. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires,
4. and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.
5. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
6. As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come.
7. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. Personal Instructions
25. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.
26. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
27. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the law,
28. Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29. “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word,
30. for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31. which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32. a light for revelation to the gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
33. And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.
34. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed
35. so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”
36. There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
37. then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.
38. At that moment she came and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.