Today's Reading

¹Jacob lived in the land of his father's travels, in the land of Canaan.

²This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors.

⁴His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak peaceably to him.

⁵Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.

⁶He said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:

⁷for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf."

⁸His brothers said to him, "Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?" They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me."

¹⁰He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?"

¹¹His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.

¹²His brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.

¹³Israel said to Joseph, "Aren't your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." He said to him, "Here I am."

¹⁴He said to him, "Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again." So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, "What are you looking for?"

¹⁶He said, "I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock."

¹⁷The man said, "They have left here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.

¹⁹They said one to another, "Behold, this dreamer comes.

²⁰Come now therefore, and let's kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, 'An evil animal has devoured him.' We will see what will become of his dreams."

²¹Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, "Let's not take his life."

²²Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"-that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.

²³It happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him;

²⁴and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

²⁵They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

²⁶Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

²⁷Come, and let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh." His brothers listened to him.

²⁸Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn't in the pit; and he tore his clothes.

³⁰He returned to his brothers, and said, "The child is no more; and I, where will I go?"

³¹They took Joseph's coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.

³²They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, "We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son's coat or not."

³³He recognized it, and said, "It is my son's coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces."

³⁴Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

³⁵All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, "For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning." His father wept for him.

³⁶The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.

¹It happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

²Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her, and went in to her.

³She conceived, and bore a son; and he named him Er.

⁴She conceived again, and bore a son; and she named him Onan.

⁵She yet again bore a son, and named him Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bore him.

⁶Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

⁷Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord. The Lord killed him.

⁸Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother."

⁹Onan knew that the seed wouldn't be his; and it happened, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.

¹⁰The thing which he did was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he killed him also.

¹¹Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house, until Shelah, my son, is grown up;" for he said, "Lest he also die, like his brothers." Tamar went and lived in her father's house.

¹²After many days, Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite.

¹³It was told Tamar, saying, "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."

¹⁴She took off of her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn't given to him as a wife.

¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.

¹⁶He turned to her by the way, and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?"

¹⁷He said, "I will send you a kid of the goats from the flock." She said, "Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?"

¹⁸He said, "What pledge will I give you?" She said, "Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand." He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹She arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, but he did not find her.

²¹Then he asked the men of her place, saying, "Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road?" They said, "There has been no prostitute here."

²²He returned to Judah, and said, "I haven't found her; and also the men of the place said, 'There has been no prostitute here.'"

²³Judah said, "Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this kid, and you haven't found her."

²⁴It happened about three months later, that it was told Judah, saying, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute; and moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution." Judah said, "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt."

²⁵When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, "By the man, whose these are, I am with child." She also said, "Please discern whose are these-the signet, and the cords, and the staff."

²⁶Judah acknowledged them, and said, "She is more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah, my son." He knew her again no more.

²⁷It happened in the time of her travail, that behold, twins were in her womb.

²⁸When she travailed, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, "This came out first."

²⁹It happened, as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out, and she said, "Why have you made a breach for yourself?" Therefore his name was called Perez.

³⁰Afterward his brother came out, that had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.

¹Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there.

²The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

³His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did prosper in his hand.

⁴Joseph found favor in his sight. He ministered to him, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

⁵It happened from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in the house and in the field.

⁶He left all that he had in Joseph's hand. He did not concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome.

⁷It happened after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph; and she said, "Lie with me."

⁸But he refused, and said to his master's wife, "Behold, my master doesn't know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand.

⁹He isn't greater in this house than I, neither has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

¹⁰As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he did not listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

¹¹About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside.

¹²She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside.

¹³When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside,

¹⁴she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, "Behold, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice.

¹⁵It happened, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside."

¹⁶She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home.

¹⁷She spoke to him according to these words, saying, "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me,

¹⁸and it happened, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside."

¹⁹It happened, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, "This is what your servant did to me," that his wrath was kindled.

²⁰Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody.

²¹But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

²²The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it.

²³The keeper of the prison did not look after anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him; and that which he did, the Lord made it prosper.

¹On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside.

²And great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat, and all the multitude stood on the beach.

³And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Behold, a farmer went out to sow.

⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.

⁵And others fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.

⁶But when the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them.

⁸Still others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.

⁹He who has ears, let him hear."

¹⁰Then the disciples came, and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"

¹¹And he answered them, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.

¹²For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.

¹³Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear, neither do they understand.

¹⁴And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, 'By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:

¹⁵for this people's heart has grown callous, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and should turn again; and I would heal them.'

¹⁶"But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.

¹⁷For truly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and did not see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.

¹⁸"Hear, then, the parable of the farmer.

¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.

²⁰And what was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;

²¹yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

²²And what was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

²³And what was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who truly bears fruit, and brings forth, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty."

²⁴He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

²⁵but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.

²⁶But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the tares appeared also.

²⁷So the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did these tares come from?'

²⁸"And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?'

²⁹"But he said, 'No, lest perhaps while you gather up the tares, you root up the wheat with them.

³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, "First, gather up the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

³¹He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field;

³²which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."

³³He spoke another parable to them. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened."

³⁴Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he did not speak to them,

³⁵that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the beginning of the world. "

³⁶Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares in the field."

³⁷And he answered them, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,

³⁸and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one,

³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

⁴⁰As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of the age.

⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity,

⁴²and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

⁴³Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

⁴⁴"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

⁴⁵"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls,

⁴⁶and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

⁴⁷"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind,

⁴⁸which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away.

⁴⁹So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come forth, and separate the wicked from among the righteous,

⁵⁰and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."

⁵¹"Have you understood all these things?" They answered him, "Yes, Lord."

⁵²And he said to them, "Therefore, every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things."

⁵³And it happened that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there.

⁵⁴And coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom, and these mighty works?

⁵⁵Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers, Jacob and Joses and Simon and Judas?

⁵⁶And are not all of his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all of these things?"

⁵⁷And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house."

⁵⁸And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

¹ How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

²How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?

³Behold, and answer me, Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;

⁴Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed against him;" Lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.

⁵But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the Lord, because he has been good to me.

¹A wise son listens to his father's instruction, but a scoffer doesn't listen to rebuke.

²By the fruit of his lips, a man enjoys good things; but the unfaithful crave violence.

³He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

⁴The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.

⁵A righteous man hates lies, but a wicked man brings shame and disgrace.

⁶Righteousness guards the way of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.

⁷There are some who pretend to be rich, yet have nothing. There are some who pretend to be poor, yet have great wealth.

⁸The ransom of a man's life is his riches, but the poor hear no threats.

⁹The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.

¹⁰Pride only breeds quarrels, but with ones who take advice is wisdom.

¹¹Wealth gained dishonestly dwindles away, but he who gathers by hand makes it grow.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.

¹³Whoever despises instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command will be rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a spring of life, to turn from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good understanding wins favor; but the way of the unfaithful is hard.

¹⁶Every prudent man acts from knowledge, but a fool exposes folly.

¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy gains healing.

¹⁸Poverty and shame come to him who refuses discipline, but he who heeds correction shall be honored.

¹⁹Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.

²⁰One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

²¹Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.

²³An abundance of food is in poor people's fields, but injustice sweeps it away.

²⁴One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.

²⁵The righteous one eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.