Genesis 38–40; Mark 15

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Genesis 38–40

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. Judah1 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 prostitute2 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.3 Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.4 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.5 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.


Mark 15

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

cAnd as soon as it was morning, the chief priests dheld a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And ethey bound Jesus and fled him away and gdelivered him over to hPilate. iAnd Pilate asked him, jAre you the King of the Jews? And he answered him, kYou have said so. And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, lHave you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you. But Jesus lmade no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

mNow at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had ncommitted murder oin the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews? 10 For he perceived that pit was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, Then what shall I do with qthe man you call the King of the Jews? 13 And they cried out again, Crucify him. 14 And Pilate said to them, Why? rWhat evil has he done? But they shouted all the more, Crucify him. 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having sscourged1 Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

16 tAnd the soldiers led him away inside uthe palace (that is, vthe governor’s headquarters),2 and they called together the whole wbattalion.3 17 And they clothed him in xa purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, yHail, King of the Jews! 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and zspitting on him and akneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had bmocked him, they stripped him of xthe purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they cled him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

21 dAnd they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 eAnd they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with fmyrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and gdivided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And hit was the third hour4 when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, iThe King of the Jews. 27 And with him they crucified two jrobbers, kone on his right and one on his left.5 29 And lthose who passed by derided him, mwagging their heads and saying, nAha! oYou who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross! 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, pHe saved others; qhe cannot save himself. 32 Let rthe Christ, sthe King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may tsee and believe. uThose who were crucified with him also reviled him.

The Death of Jesus

33 And when the sixth hour6 had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.7 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus vcried with a loud voice, wEloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, Behold, he is calling Elijah. 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with xsour wine, put it on a reed yand gave it to him to drink, saying, Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down. 37 And Jesus zuttered a loud cry and abreathed his last. 38 And bthe curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 cAnd when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he8 breathed his last, he said, dTruly this man was the Son9 of God!

40 There were also ewomen looking on ffrom a distance, among whom were gMary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and iSalome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and gministered to him, and there were also many other women who jcame up with him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

42 kAnd when evening had come, since it was lthe day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, ma respected member of the council, who nwas also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died.10 And summoning othe centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from othe centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph11 bought pa linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and qlaid him in a tomb rthat had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled sa stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 tMary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.