Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners' Dreams

¹Some time after this, the ecupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. ²And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³fand he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.

⁵And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. ⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. ⁷So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, g“Why are your faces downcast today?” ⁸They said to him, h“We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, i“Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

⁹So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.” ¹²Then Joseph said to him, j“This is its interpretation: kthe three branches are three days. ¹³In three days Pharaoh will llift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. ¹⁵For mI was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and nhere also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, ¹⁷and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸And Joseph answered and said, o“This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. ¹⁹pIn three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and qhang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

²⁰On the third day, which was Pharaoh's rbirthday, he made a feast for all his servants and slifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹tHe restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and uhe placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. ²²But he vhanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Teaching About Divorce

¹zAnd he left there and went ato the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

²And Pharisees came up and in order bto test him asked, c“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴They said, d“Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” ⁵And Jesus said to them, “Because of your ehardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶But ffrom the beginning of creation, ‘God made them gmale and female.’ ⁷h‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,1 ⁸and ithe two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. ⁹jWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

¹⁰And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹And he said to them, k“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, ¹²and lif she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Let the Children Come to Me

¹³mAnd they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples nrebuked them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, o“Let the children come to me; pdo not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. ¹⁵qTruly, I say to you, whoever does not rreceive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” ¹⁶And she took them in his arms and blessed them, tlaying his hands on them.

The Rich Young Man

¹⁷uAnd as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and vknelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to winherit eternal life?” ¹⁸And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: x‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰And he said to him, “Teacher, yall these I have kept from my youth.” ²¹And Jesus, zlooking at him, aloved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, bsell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have ctreasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²²dDisheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³And Jesus elooked around and said to his disciples, f“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter gthe kingdom of God!” ²⁴And the disciples hwere amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, i“Children, jhow difficult it is2 to enter gthe kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter gthe kingdom of God.” ²⁶And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,3 “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷Jesus klooked at them and said, l“With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” ²⁸Peter began to say to him, “See, mwe have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, nthere is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and ofor the gospel, ³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold pnow in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, qwith persecutions, and in rthe age to come eternal life. ³¹But smany who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

³²tAnd they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and uJesus was walking ahead of them. And vthey were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, ³³saying, “See, wwe are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will xcondemn him to death and ydeliver him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴And they will zmock him and aspit on him, and flog him and kill him. And bafter three days he will rise.”

The Request of James and John

³⁵cAnd James and John, dthe sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us ewhatever we ask of you.” ³⁶And he said to them, f“What do you want me to do for you?” ³⁷And they said to him, “Grant us gto sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, hin your glory.” ³⁸Jesus said to them, i“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able jto drink the cup that I drink, or kto be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” ³⁹And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, l“The cup that I drink myou will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, nyou will be baptized, ⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, obut it is for those for whom it has been pprepared.” ⁴¹And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. ⁴²qAnd Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles rlord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ⁴³But sit shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,4 ⁴⁴and whoever would be first among you must be tslave5 of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man came not to be served but uto serve, and vto give his life as a ransom for wmany.”

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

⁴⁶xAnd they came to Jericho. And yas he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, za blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷And when he heard that it was aJesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸And many brebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, c“Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” ⁵⁰And throwing off his dcloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹And Jesus said to him, e“What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, f“Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” ⁵²And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; gyour faith has hmade you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Oh that my vexation were weighed,

and all my calamity laid in the balances!

³For then it would be heavier than zthe sand of the sea;

therefore my words have been rash.

⁴For athe arrows of the Almighty are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

⁵Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,

or the ox low over his fodder?

⁶Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,

or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?1

⁷My appetite refuses to touch them;

they are as food that is loathsome to me.2

⁸“Oh that I might have my request,

and that God would fulfill my hope,

⁹that it would bplease God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

¹⁰This would be my comfort;

I would even exult3 in pain cunsparing,

for I have not denied the words of dthe Holy One.

¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should be patient?

¹²Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?

¹³Have I any help in me,

when resource is driven from me?

¹⁴“He who ewithholds4 kindness from a ffriend

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵My gbrothers are htreacherous as a torrent-bed,

as torrential istreams that pass away,

¹⁶which are dark with ice,

and where the snow hides itself.

¹⁷When they melt, they disappear;

when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

¹⁸The caravans turn aside from their course;

they go up into jthe waste and perish.

¹⁹The caravans of kTema look,

the travelers of lSheba hope.

²⁰They are mashamed because they were confident;

they come there and are mdisappointed.

²¹For you have now become nothing;

you see my calamity and are afraid.

²²Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?

Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?

²³Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary's hand’?

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of nthe ruthless’?

²⁴“Teach me, and I will be silent;

make me understand how I have gone astray.

²⁵How forceful are upright words!

But what does reproof from you reprove?

²⁶Do you think that you can reprove words,

when the speech of a despairing man is owind?

²⁷You would even pcast lots over the fatherless,

and bargain over your friend.

²⁸“But now, be pleased to look at me,

for I will not lie to your face.

²⁹qPlease turn; let no injustice be done.

Turn now; my vindication is at stake.

³⁰Is there any injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

¹Brothers,1 my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. ²For I bear them witness that bthey have a zeal for God, cbut not according to knowledge. ³For, being ignorant of dthe righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. ⁴For eChrist is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.2

The Message of Salvation to All

⁵For fMoses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that gthe person who does the commandments shall live by them. ⁶But hthe righteousness based on faith says, i“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷“or ‘Who will descend into the jabyss?’” (that is, kto bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? l“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because, if myou confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and nbelieve in your heart othat God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹For the Scripture says, p“Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹²qFor there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; rfor the same Lord is Lord of all, sbestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³For t“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him uof whom they have never heard?3 And how are they to hear vwithout someone preaching? ¹⁵And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, w“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ¹⁶But xthey have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, y“Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” ¹⁷So zfaith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

¹⁸But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

a“Their voice has gone out bto all the earth,

and their words to the ends of the world.”

¹⁹But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

c“I will dmake you jealous of those who are not a nation;

with a efoolish nation I will make you angry.”

²⁰Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

f“I have been found by those who did not seek me;

I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

²¹But of Israel he says, g“All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”