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Joseph’s Life before His Captivity
37 Jacob continued to live in the land they were occupying, where his father had journeyed in the territory of Canaan. 2 This is a record of Jacob’s descendants.
When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was helping his brothers tend their flocks. He was a young man at that time, as were the children of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. But Joseph would come back and tell his father that his brothers were doing bad things. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his brothers, since he was born to him in his old age, so he had made a richly-embroidered[a] tunic for him. 4 When Joseph’s[b] brothers realized that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, they hated him so much that they were unable to speak politely to him.
Joseph’s Dreams
5 Right about this time, Joseph had a dream and then told it to his brothers. As a result, his brothers hated him all the more! 6 “Let me tell you about this dream that I had!” he said. 7 “We were tying sheaves together out in the middle of the fields, when all of a sudden, my sheaf stood up erect! And then your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf!”
8 At this, his brothers replied, “Do you really think you’re going to rule us or lord it over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his interpretations of them.
9 But then he had another dream, and he proceeded to tell his brothers about that one, too. “I had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven of the stars were bowing down before me!”
10 When Joseph told his father about this, his father rebuked him and asked him, “What kind of dream is that? Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come to you and bow down to the ground in front of you?” 11 As a result, his brothers became more envious of him. But his father kept thinking about all of this.
Joseph is Sent to Visit His Brothers
12 Some time later, his brothers left to tend their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel instructed Joseph, “Your brothers are tending the flock in Shechem. Come here, because I’m going to send you to them.”
“Here I am!” he responded.
14 “Go and see how things are with your brothers,” Israel[c] ordered him. “And see how things are with the flock. Bring back a report for me.” Then he sent Joseph[d] from the valley of Hebron.
When Joseph reached Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in a field. So the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 “I’m searching for my brothers,” he responded. “Tell me, where are they tending the flock?”[e]
17 “They’ve already left,” the man answered. “I heard them saying that they were headed to Dothan.” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.
Joseph’s Brothers Plot to Kill Him
18 Now as soon as they saw him approaching from a distance, before he arrived they plotted together to kill him. 19 “Look!” they said. “Here comes the Dream Master! 20 Come on! Let’s kill him and toss him into one of the cisterns. Then we’ll report that some wild animal devoured him and wait to see what becomes of his dreams!”
21 When Reuben heard about it, he tried to save Joseph[f] from their plot. “Let’s not do any killing,”[g] 22 Reuben told them. “And no blood shedding, either. Instead, let’s toss him into this cistern that’s way out here in the wilderness. But don’t lay a hand on him.” (Reuben[h] intended to free Joseph[i] and return him to his father.)
Joseph is Sold into Slavery
23 As it was, when Joseph arrived where his brothers were, they stripped off the tunic that Jacob had given him—that is, the richly-embroidered[j] tunic that he was wearing. 24 They grabbed him and tossed him into the cistern, but the cistern was empty. (There was no water in it.) 25 After this, while they were seated, eating their food, they looked around and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with camels carrying spices, balm, and myrrh for sale down in Egypt.
26 Then Judah suggested to his brothers, “Where’s the profit in just killing our brother and shedding his blood? 27 Come on! Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites! That way, we won’t have laid our hands on him. After all, he’s our brother, our own flesh.”
So Judah’s[k] brothers listened to him. 28 As the Midianite merchants were passing through, they extracted Joseph from the cistern and sold Joseph for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who then took Joseph down to Egypt.
29 Later, when Reuben returned to the cistern, Joseph wasn’t there! In mounting panic, he tore his clothes, 30 returned to his brothers, and shouted, “He’s[l] not there! Now what? Where am I to go?”
31 So they took Joseph’s coat, slaughtered a young goat, and dipped the coat in the blood. 32 Then they stretched out the richly-embroidered[m] tunic to dry,[n] and brought it to their father.
“We’ve found this,” they reported. “Look at it and see if this is or isn’t your son’s tunic.”
33 Examining it, he cried out, “It’s my son’s tunic! A wild animal has no doubt torn Joseph to pieces.”
34 So Jacob tore his clothes, dressed himself in sackcloth, and then mourned many days for his son. 35 All his sons and daughters showed[o] up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He kept saying, “Leave me alone! I’ll go down to the next world,[p] still mourning for my son.” So Joseph’s father wept for him.
Joseph is Enslaved to Potiphar
36 Meanwhile, down in Egypt, the Midianites sold Joseph[q] to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s court officials, who was also Commander-in-Chief of the imperial guards.
Judah’s Life among the Adullamites
38 Right about then, Judah left his brothers and went to live with an Adullamite man named Hirah. 2 There Judah met[r] the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married[s] her, had sexual relations with her, 3 and she conceived, bore a son, and named him Er. 4 Later, she conceived again, bore another son, and named him Onan. 5 Then she bore yet another son and named him Shelah. Judah was living in Kezib when she bore him.
6 Judah found a wife for his oldest son Er. Her name was Tamar. 7 But the Lord considered Er, Judah’s oldest son, to be wicked—so he put him to death. 8 So Judah instructed Onan, “You are to have sexual relations with your dead brother’s wife, performing the duty of a brother-in-law with her, and have offspring for your brother.”
9 But Onan knew that the offspring wouldn’t be his own heir, so whenever he had sexual relations with his brother’s wife, he would spill his semen on the ground to avoid fathering offspring for his brother. 10 The Lord considered what Onan was doing to be evil, so he put him to death, too.
11 After this, Judah told his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Go live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” But he was really thinking, “…otherwise, Shelah[t] might die like his brothers.” So Tamar left and lived in her father’s house. 12 Some years later, Shua’s daughter (that is, Judah’s wife) died. As Judah was grieving, he visited the shearers of his flock in Timnah, accompanied by his Adullamite friend Hirah.
Tamar Avenges Judah’s Treachery
13 “Look!” somebody reported to Tamar, “Your father-in-law is going to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she took off her mourning apparel, covered herself with a shawl, and concealed her outward appearance. Then she went out and sat at the entrance of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah, because she knew that even though Shelah had grown up, she wasn’t being given to him as his wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, since she had concealed her face. 16 So on the way, he turned aside, approached her, and said, “Come on! Let’s have some sex!” But he didn’t realize that he was talking to his own daughter-in-law.
“What will you give me,” she asked, “in order to have sex with me?”
17 “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock,” he responded.
But she pressed him, asking, “What security will you put up until you’ve sent it?”
18 Then he asked, “What pledge do you want me to give you?”
“Your signet ring, cord, and the staff in your hand,” she suggested. So he gave them to her, had sex with her, and she became pregnant by him. 19 Then she got up and left. Later, she took off her shawl and put on her mourning clothes.
20 Later on, Judah sent his Adullamite friend to take her a young goat, intending to retrieve what he had put up as security from the woman, but he could not find her. 21 He asked the men who lived in that area, “Where’s that temple prostitute who was sitting alongside the road at Enaim?”
But they replied, “There’s been no temple prostitute here.”
22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I haven’t found her. Also, the men who are from there said, ‘There’s been no prostitute here.’”
23 Then Judah said, “Let her have those things.[u] Otherwise, we’ll become contemptible. I sent this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”
Tamar’s Pregnancy Rebukes Judah
24 Three months later, it was reported to Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution![v] And look! She’s pregnant because of it!”
“Bring her out,” Judah responded. “Let’s burn her to death!”
25 While they were bringing her out, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong. Furthermore,” she added, “tell me to whom this signet ring, cord, and staff belongs.”
26 When Judah recognized them, he admitted, “She is more upright than I, because I never did give her my son Shelah.” And he never had sex with her again.
27 Later, when it was time for Tamar[w] to give birth, she was carrying twins in her womb! 28 While she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand, so the midwife grabbed it and tied something scarlet around his hand, observing, “This one came out first.”
29 As it was, he withdrew his hand, and then his brother was born. Amazed, the midwife[x] cried out loud, “What’s this? A breach birth?” So that boy[y] was named Perez.[z] 30 Afterwards, his brother came out, and around his hand was the scarlet. So they named him Zerah.[aa]
Jesus is Accused of Working with Beelzebul(A)
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to talk was brought to him. Jesus[a] healed him so that the man[b] could speak and see. 23 All the crowds were amazed and kept saying, “This man isn’t the Son of David, is he?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”
25 He knew what they were thinking and told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 So if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom stand? 27 If I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own followers[c] drive them out? That is why they will be your judges! 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 29 How can someone go into a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man? Then he can ransack his house. 30 The person who isn’t with me is against me, and the person who isn’t gathering with me is scattering. 31 So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven,[d] but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come.”
A Tree is Known by Its Fruit(B)
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten, because a tree is known by its fruit. 34 You children of serpents! How can you say anything good when you are evil? The mouth speaks about what overflows from the heart. 35 A good person brings good things out of a good treasure house, and an evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure house. 36 I tell you, on Judgment Day people will give an account for every thoughtless[e] word they have uttered, 37 because by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The Sign of Jonah(C)
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees told Jesus,[f] “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
39 But he replied to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign. Yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah, 40 because just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea creature for three days and three nights,[g] so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today,[h] because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But look—something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the south will stand up and condemn the people living today,[i] because she came from so far away[j] to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look! Something greater than Solomon is here!”
The Return of the Unclean Spirit(D)
43 “Whenever an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through waterless places looking for a place to rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will go back to my home that I left.’ When it arrives, it finds it empty, swept clean, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and settle there. And so the final condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That’s just what will happen to this evil generation!”
A special Davidic Psalm.[a]
Trust in the Face of Death
16 Keep me safe, God,
for I take refuge in you.
2 I told the Lord,
“You are my master,[b]
I have nothing good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints that are in the land,
they are noble, and all my delight is in them.
4 Those who hurry after another god[c] will have many sorrows;
I will not present[d] their drink offerings of blood,
nor will my lips speak[e] their names.
5 The Lord is my inheritance and my cup;
you support my lot.
6 The boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places for me;
truly, I have a beautiful heritage.
7 I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
indeed, my conscience instructs[f] me during the night.
8 I have set the Lord before me continuously;
because he stands at my right hand, I will stand firm.[g]
9 Therefore, my heart is glad,
my whole being[h] rejoices,
and my body will dwell securely.
10 For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,[i]
you will not allow your holy one to experience corruption.[j]
11 You cause me to know the path of life;
in your presence is joyful abundance,
at your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Wisdom in Action
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
“Go, and come back.
I will pay you[a] tomorrow,”
when you have cash[b] with you.
29 Do not plan to harm your neighbor,
when he is living peacefully[c] beside you.
30 Do not bring a lawsuit against a person for no reason,
when he has done you no harm.
31 Do not envy a violent man,
and do not emulate his lifestyle.[d]
32 Indeed, a perverse man is utterly disgusting[e] to the Lord,
but he takes the upright into his confidence.[f]
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