Genesis 37–40; Amos 2:4–3:8; Acts 7:9–13; Revelation 12

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Genesis 37–40

Joseph’s Dreams

Jacob lived in gthe land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought ha bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was ithe son of his old age. And he made him ja robe of many colors.1 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, kmy sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and lbowed down to my sheaf. His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me. 10 But when he 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? Shall I and myour mother and your brothers indeed come nto bow ourselves to the ground before you? 11 And ohis brothers were jealous of him, pbut his father kept the saying in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near qShechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here I am. 14 So he said to him, Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word. So he sent him from the Valley of rHebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, What are you seeking? 16 I am seeking my brothers, he said. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock. 17 And the man said, They have gone away, for I heard them say, Let us go to sDothan. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at sDothan.

18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them tthey conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, ulet us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.2 Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams. 21 But when vReuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life. 22 And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on himwthat he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, xthe robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and ythrew him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a zcaravan of aIshmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing bgum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it cif we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and dlet not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh. And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then eMidianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and fsold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels3 of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he gtore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, The boy his gone, and I, where shall I go? 31 Then they took iJoseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not. 33 And he identified it and said, It is my son’s robe. jA fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces. 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters krose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, No, lI shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning. Thus his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile mthe Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, nthe captain of the guard.

Judah and Tamar

It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and oturned aside to a certain pAdullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was qShua. He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name rEr. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name rOnan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name rShelah. Judah4 was in Chezib when she bore him.

And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, swas wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, Go in to tyour brother’s wife and uperform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother. But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. 10 And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, vRemain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows upfor he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained win her father’s house.

12 In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died. When Judah xwas comforted, he went up to yTimnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And when Tamar was told, Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep, 14 she took off her widow’s garments zand covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to aEnaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, band she had not been given to him in marriage. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 He turned to her at the roadside and said, 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? 17 He answered, I will send you a young goat from the flock. And she said, If you give me a pledge, until you send it 18 He said, What pledge shall I give you? She replied, cYour signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand. So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19 Then she arose and went away, and taking off dher veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. 21 And he asked the men of the place, Where is the cult prostitute5 who was at eEnaim at the roadside? And they said, No cult prostitute has been here. 22 So he returned to Judah and said, I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, No cult prostitute has been here. 23 And Judah replied, Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.

24 About three months later Judah was told, Tamar your daughter-in-law fhas been immoral.6 Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.7 And Judah said, Bring her out, and glet her be burned. 25 As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant. And she said, Please identify whose these are, hthe signet and the cord and the staff. 26 Then Judah identified them and said, iShe is more righteous than I, since jI did not give her to my son Shelah. And he did not know her again.

27 When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. 28 And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, This one came out first. 29 But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, What a breach you have made for yourself! Therefore his name was called kPerez.8 30 Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called kZerah.

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and lPotiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, mhad bought him from the nIshmaelites who had brought him down there. oThe Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord pcaused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph qfound favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house rand put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house sfor Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.

Now Joseph was thandsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me. But he refused and said to his master’s wife, Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and uhe has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and vsin against God? 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he wwould not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 xshe caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house. 16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.

19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, This is the way your servant treated me, his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and yput him into the zprison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But athe Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love band gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison cput Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because dthe Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners’ Dreams

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

And one night they both dreamedthe cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prisoneach his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, gWhy are your faces downcast today? They said to him, hWe have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them. And Joseph said to them, iDo not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.

So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, In my dream there was a vine before me, 10 and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’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. 12 Then Joseph said to him, jThis is its interpretation: kthe three branches are three days. 13 In 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. 14 Only 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. 15 For 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.

16 When 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, 17 and 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. 18 And Joseph answered and said, oThis is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 pIn three days Pharaoh will lift up your headfrom you!and qhang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.

20 On 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. 21 tHe restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and uhe placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he vhanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.


Amos 2:4–3:8

Judgment on Judah

Thus says the Lord:

nFor three transgressions of Judah,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because othey have rejected the law of the Lord,

and have not kept his statutes,

but ptheir lies have led them astray,

those after which their fathers walked.

So qI will send a fire upon Judah,

and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

Thus says the Lord:

nFor three transgressions of Israel,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because rthey sell the righteous for ssilver,

and the needy for a pair of sandals

those who trample the head of the poor tinto the dust of the earth

and uturn aside the way of the afflicted;

va man and his father go in to the same girl,

so that my holy name is profaned;

they lay themselves down beside every altar

on garments wtaken in pledge,

and in the house of their God they drink

the wine of those who have been fined.

Yet xit was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,

ywhose height was like the height of the cedars

and who was as strong as the oaks;

zI destroyed his fruit above

and his roots beneath.

10  aAlso it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt

band led you forty years in the wilderness,

xto possess the land of the Amorite.

11  And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,

and some of your young men for cNazirites.

Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?

declares the Lord.

12  But you made the Nazirites ddrink wine,

and commanded the prophets,

saying, eYou shall not prophesy.

13  Behold, I will press you down in your place,

as a cart full of sheaves presses down.

14  fFlight shall perish from the swift,

fand the strong shall not retain his strength,

gnor shall the mighty save his life;

15  he who handles the bow shall not stand,

and he who is hswift of foot shall not save himself,

inor shall he who rides the horse save his life;

16  and he who is stout of heart among the mighty

shall flee away naked in that day,

declares the Lord.

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

jHear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

kYou only have I known

of all the families of the earth;

ltherefore I will punish you

for all your iniquities.

Do two walk together,

unless they have agreed to meet?

Does a lion roar in the forest,

when he has no prey?

Does a young lion cry out from his den,

if he has taken nothing?

Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,

when there is no trap for it?

Does a snare spring up from the ground,

when it has taken nothing?

mIs a trumpet blown in a city,

and the people are not afraid?

nDoes disaster come to a city,

unless the Lord has done it?

For the Lord God does nothing

owithout revealing his secret

to his servants the prophets.

The lion has roared;

who will not fear?

pThe Lord God has spoken;

who can but prophesy?


Acts 7:9–13

And the patriarchs, cjealous of Joseph, dsold him into Egypt; but eGod was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and fgave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gwho made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now hthere came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 iBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And jon the second visit kJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and lJoseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.


Revelation 12

The Woman and the Dragon

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman eclothed with fthe sun, with fthe moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and gwas crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great hred dragon, iwith seven heads and jten horns, and on his heads kseven diadems. His tail swept down la third of the stars of heaven and mcast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child nhe might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, oone who is to rule1 all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was pcaught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for q1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

Now war arose in heaven, rMichael and shis angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And tthe great dragon was thrown down, uthat ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, vthe deceiver of the whole worldwhe was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now xthe salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers2 has been thrown down, ywho accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And zthey have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for athey loved not their lives beven unto death. 12 Therefore, crejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But dwoe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ehe knows that his time is short!

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued fthe woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two gwings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent hinto the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ifor a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water jlike a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off kto make war on the rest of lher offspring, mon those who keep the commandments of God and hold to nthe testimony of Jesus. And he stood3 on the sand of the sea.