Genesis 41 - 42, Mark 2 - 3, Psalm 22

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream

41Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. ²And behold, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and ¹fat; and they grazed in the ^areeds. ³Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ¹ugly and ²thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴And the ugly and ¹thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. ⁵He again fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. ⁶And behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. ⁷And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸Now it happened that in the morning ^ahis spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the ¹^,^bmagicians of Egypt and all its ^cwise men. And Pharaoh recounted to them his dream, but ^dthere was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would bring to remembrance today ^amy own ¹offenses. ¹⁰“Pharaoh was ^afurious with his servants, and ^bhe put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker. ¹¹“^aAnd we had a dream ¹on the same night, ²he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. ¹²“Now there was with us a Hebrew youth, a ^aslave of the captain of the bodyguard, and we recounted them to him, and ^bhe interpreted our dreams for us. To each one he interpreted according to his own dream. ¹³“And just ^aas he interpreted for us, so it happened; he restored me in my ¹office, but he hanged him.”

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent and ^acalled for Joseph, and they ^brushed him out of the pit; and he shaved himself and changed his clothes, and he came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, ^abut no one can interpret it; yet ^bI have heard ¹it said about you, that ²you hear a dream and that you can interpret it.” ¹⁶Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “¹^,^aIt is not in me; ^bGod will ²answer concerning the welfare of Pharaoh.” ¹⁷So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile; ¹⁸and behold, seven cows, ¹fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. ¹⁹“And behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and lean, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt, in regard to ¹ugliness; ²⁰and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. ²¹“But they ¹devoured them, and yet it could not be known that they had ²devoured them. ³For they were just as ugly as ⁴before. Then I awoke. ²²“Then I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk; ²³and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them; ²⁴and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. So ^aI told it to the ¹magicians, but there was no one who could declare it to me.”

²⁵Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s ¹dreams are one and the same; ^aGod has declared to Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁶“The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the ¹dreams are one and the same. ²⁷“And the seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven lean ears scorched by the east wind ^awill be seven years of famine. ²⁸“¹It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: ^aGod has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹“Behold, ^aseven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; ³⁰and after them ^aseven years of famine will arise, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ¹ravage the land, ³¹so that the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very heavy. ³²“Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^athe matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about. ³³“So now let Pharaoh look for a man ^aunderstanding and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴“Let Pharaoh take action and appoint overseers over the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. ³⁵“Then let them ^agather all the food of these good years that are coming, and let them store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them keep watch over it. ³⁶“And let the food be appointed for the land for the seven years of famine which will happen in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not be cut off during the famine.”

Joseph Is Set over Egypt

³⁷And the ¹proposal seemed good ²to Pharaoh and ³to all his servants. ³⁸Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, ^ain whom is a divine spirit?” ³⁹So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made you know all of this, there is no one so ^aunderstanding and wise as you are. ⁴⁰“^aYou shall be over my house, and according to your ¹command all my people shall ²do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.” ⁴¹And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you ^aover all the land of Egypt.” ⁴²Then Pharaoh ^aremoved his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand and clothed him in garments of fine linen and ^bput the gold necklace around his neck. ⁴³And he had him ride in ¹his second chariot; and they called out before him, “²Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet ^awithout ¹your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵Then Pharaoh named Joseph ¹Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ²^,^aOn, as a wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶Now Joseph was ^athirty years old when he ¹stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and passed through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷And during the seven years of plenty the land brought forth ¹abundantly. ⁴⁸So he gathered all the food of these seven years which happened in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. ⁴⁹Thus Joseph stored up grain ¹in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped ²measuring it, for it was ³beyond measure.

The Sons of Joseph

⁵⁰Now before the year of famine came, ^atwo sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ¹On, bore to him. ⁵¹And Joseph named the firstborn ¹Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” ⁵²And he named the second ¹Ephraim, “For,” he said, “^aGod has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³Then the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴and ^athe seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. So there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵Then all the land of Egypt was famished, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; ^awhatever he says to you, you shall do.” ⁵⁶Now the famine was over all the face of the land. And Joseph opened all ¹the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷Now all the earth also came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because ^athe famine was severe in all the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

42Now ^aJacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” ²Then he said, “Behold, ^aI have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from there, ^bso that we may live and not die.” ³So ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother ^aBenjamin with his brothers, for he said, “^bLest any harm befall him.” ⁵So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, ^afor the famine was in the land of Canaan also.

⁶Now ^aJoseph was the one in power over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^bbowed down to him with their ¹faces to the ground. ⁷And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and ^aspoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸But Joseph recognized his brothers, although ^athey did not recognize him. ⁹And Joseph ^aremembered the dreams which he ¹had about them and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ²nakedness of the land.” ¹⁰Then they said to him, “No, ^amy lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹“We are all sons of one man; we are ^ahonest men; your servants are not spies.” ¹²And he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ¹nakedness of our land!” ¹³So they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with ^aour father today, and ^bone is no more.” ¹⁴And Joseph said to them, “It is as I said ¹to you, you are spies; ¹⁵by this you will be tested: ^aby the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶“Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is ^atruth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” ¹⁷Then he put them all together in ^aprison for three days.

¹⁸And Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for ^aI fear God: ¹⁹if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in ¹your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, bring grain for the famine of your households, ²⁰and ^abring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be proven true, and you will not die.” And they did so. ²¹Then they said to one another, “^aSurely we are guilty concerning our brother because we saw the distress of his soul when he begged us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” ²²And Reuben answered them, saying, “^aDid I not tell you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; yet you would not listen? ^bSo also his blood, behold, it is required of us.” ²³Now they did not know that Joseph was listening, for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴And he turned away from them and ^awept. Then he returned to them and spoke to them. And he ^btook Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. ²⁵^aThen Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man’s money in his sack and to give them provisions for the journey. And thus it was done for them.

²⁶So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and went from there. ²⁷Then one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place. And he saw his ^amoney; and behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.” And their hearts ¹sank, and they turned ²trembling to one another, saying, “^aWhat is this that God has done to us?”

Jacob Is Bereaved

²⁹Then they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰“The man, the lord of the land, ^aspoke harshly with us and took us for spies of the country. ³¹“So we said to him, ‘We are ^ahonest men; we are not spies. ³²‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ ³³“Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘^aBy this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go. ³⁴‘But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but ¹honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may ^atrade in the land.’”

³⁵Now it happened that they were emptying their sacks, and behold, ^aevery man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and they and their father saw their bundles of money, and they feared. ³⁶And their father Jacob said to them, “You have ^abereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” ³⁷Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hand, and I will return him to you.” ³⁸But ¹Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his ^abrother is dead, and he alone remains. ^bIf harm should befall him on the journey on which you are going, then you will ^cbring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

2And when He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. ²And ^amany were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. ³^aAnd they *came, bringing to Him a ^bparalytic, carried by four men. ⁴And being unable to bring him to ¹Jesus because of the crowd, they ^aremoved the roof over where He was; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the mat where the ^bparalytic was lying. ⁵And Jesus seeing their faith *said to the paralytic, “Child, ^ayour sins are forgiven.” ⁶But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷“Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; ^awho can forgive sins ¹but God alone?” ⁸Immediately Jesus, aware ¹in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? ⁹“Which is easier, to say to the ^aparalytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your mat and walk’? ¹⁰“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralytic, ¹¹“I say to you, get up, pick up your mat, and go to your home.” ¹²And he got up and immediately picked up the mat and went out before everyone, so that they were all amazed and ^awere glorifying God, saying, “^bWe have never seen anything like this.”

¹³And He went out again by the seashore; and ^athe entire crowd was coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

Levi and Sinners Called

¹⁴^aAnd as He passed by, He saw ¹^,^bLevi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office, and He *said to him, “^cFollow Me!” And he stood up and followed Him.

¹⁵And it *¹happened that as He was reclining at the table in his house, many tax collectors and ²sinners ³were reclining with Jesus and His disciples. For there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶And when ^athe scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they were saying to His disciples, “^bHe is eating and drinking with tax collectors and ¹sinners!” ¹⁷And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “^aThose who are healthy do not have need for a physician, but only those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁸^aAnd John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they *came and *said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to them, “Can ¹the attendants of the bridegroom fast when the bridegroom is with them? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰“But the ^adays will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

²¹“No one sews ¹a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise ²that patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²²“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

Lord of the Sabbath

²³^aAnd it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while ^bpicking the heads of grain. ²⁴And the Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, ^awhy are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵And He *said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; ²⁶how he entered the house of God around the time of ^aAbiathar the high priest, and ate the ¹consecrated bread, which ^bis not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷And Jesus was saying to them, “^aThe Sabbath ¹was made ²for man, and ^bnot man ³for the Sabbath. ²⁸“Consequently the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath

3^aAnd He ^bentered again into a synagogue; and a man was there with a withered hand. ²^aAnd they were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, ^bso that they might accuse Him. ³And He *said to the man with the withered hand, “¹Get up and come forward!” ⁴And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵And after ^alooking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶And the Pharisees went out and immediately began taking counsel together with the ^aHerodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

⁷^aAnd Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and ^ba great multitude from Galilee followed; and from Judea, ⁸and from Jerusalem, and from ^aIdumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of ^bTyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. ⁹^aAnd He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; ¹⁰for He had ^ahealed many, with the result that all those who had ^bafflictions pressed around Him in order to ^ctouch Him. ¹¹And whenever the unclean spirits were seeing Him, they would fall down before Him and cry out, saying, “You are ^athe Son of God!” ¹²And He ^aearnestly warned them not to ¹tell who He was.

Jesus Appoints the Twelve

¹³And He *went up on ^athe mountain and *^bsummoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. ¹⁴And He appointed twelve ¹(whom He also named apostles) to be with Him and to send them out to preach, ¹⁵and to have authority to cast out the demons. ¹⁶And He appointed the twelve: ^aSimon (to whom He gave the name Peter), ¹⁷and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); ¹⁸and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the ¹Zealot; ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

²⁰And He *came ¹^,^ahome, and the ^bcrowd *gathered again, ^cso that they could not even eat ²a meal. ²¹And when ^aHis own ¹people heard this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “^bHe has lost His senses.” ²²And the scribes who came down ^afrom Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by ¹^,^bBeelzebul,” and “^cHe casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” ²³^aAnd He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in ^bparables, “How can ^cSatan cast out Satan? ²⁴“And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵“And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶“And if ^aSatan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but ¹he is finished! ²⁷“^aBut no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.

²⁸“^aTruly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹but ^awhoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

³¹^aThen His mother and His brothers *arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him, calling Him. ³²And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they *said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” ³³And answering them, He *said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” ³⁴And looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He *said, “^aBehold My mother and My brothers! ³⁵“For whoever ^adoes the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

For the choir director. According to ¹Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David.

^aMy God, my God, why have You forsaken me?²^,^bFar from my salvation are the words of my ³^,^cgroaning.²O my God, I ^acall by day, but You do not answer;And by night, but ¹I have no rest.³Yet ^aYou are holy,¹Enthroned upon ^bthe praises of Israel.⁴In You our fathers ^atrusted;They trusted and You ^brescued them.⁵To You they cried out and were granted escape;^aIn You they trusted and were not ¹disappointed.⁶But I am a ^aworm and not a man,A ^breproach of men and ^cdespised by the people.⁷All who see me ^amock me;They ¹smack their lip, they ^bwag their head, saying,⁸“¹Commit yourself to Yahweh; ^alet Him rescue him;Let Him deliver him, because He delights in him.”⁹Yet You are He who ^abrought me out of the womb;You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.¹⁰Upon You I was cast ^afrom ¹birth;You have been my God from my mother’s womb.¹¹^aBe not far from me, for ¹distress is near;For there is ^bnone to help.¹²Many ^abulls have surrounded me;Strong bulls of ^bBashan have encircled me.¹³They ^aopen wide their mouth at me,As a ^blion that tears and roars.¹⁴I am ^apoured out like water,And all my ^bbones are out of joint;My ^cheart is like wax;It is melted within ¹me.¹⁵My ^astrength is dried up like a potsherd,And ^bmy tongue cleaves to my jaws;And You ^clay me ¹in the dust of death.¹⁶For ^adogs have surrounded me;¹A band of evildoers has encompassed me;²They ^bpierced my hands and my feet.¹⁷I count all my bones.^aThey look, they stare at me;¹⁸They ^adivide my garments among them,And for my clothing they cast lots.¹⁹But You, O Yahweh, ^abe not far off;O my Strength, ^bhasten to my help.²⁰Deliver my ¹soul from ^athe sword,My ^bonly life from the ²power of the dog.²¹Save me from the mouth of the ^alion;From the horns of the ^bwild oxen You ^chave answered me.²²I will surely ^arecount Your name to my brothers;In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.²³^aYou who fear Yahweh, praise Him;All you seed of Jacob, ^bglorify Him,And ^cstand in awe of Him, all you seed of Israel.²⁴For He has ^anot despised and He has not abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;And He has not ^bhidden His face from him;But ^cwhen he cried to Him for help, He heard.²⁵Of You is ^amy praise in the great assembly;I shall ^bpay my vows before those who fear Him.²⁶The ¹afflicted will eat and ^abe satisfied;Those who seek Him will ^bpraise Yahweh.May your ^cheart live forever!²⁷All the ^aends of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh,And all the ^bfamilies of the nations will worship before ¹You.²⁸For the ^akingdom is Yahweh’sAnd He ^brules over the nations.²⁹All the ¹^,^aprosperous of the earth will eat and worship,All those who ^bgo down to the dust will bow before Him,Even he who ²^,^ccannot keep his soul alive.³⁰^aTheir seed will serve Him;It will be recounted about the Lord to ^bthe coming generation.³¹They will come and ^awill declare His righteousnessTo a people ^bwho will be born, that He has done it.