Judging Others

1 ^r“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 ^sFor with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and ^twith the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but ^udo not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

6 ^v“Do not give ^wdogs what is holy, and do not throw your ^xpearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Ask, and It Will Be Given

7 ^y“Ask, ^zand it will be given to you; ^aseek, and you will find; ^bknock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for ^cbread, will give him ^ca stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, ^dwho are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will ^zyour Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The Golden Rule

12 “So ^ewhatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is ^fthe Law and the Prophets.

13 ^g“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy¹ that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and ^hthe way is hard that leads to life, and ⁱthose who find it are few.

Peter and Cornelius

1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of ^wwhat was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man ^xwho feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3 ^yAbout the ninth hour of the day^{1 z}he saw clearly in a vision ^aan angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms ^bhave ascended ^cas a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is lodging ^dwith one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Peter’s Vision

9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, ^ePeter went up ^fon the housetop about ^gthe sixth hour² to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into ^ha trance 11 and saw ⁱthe heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; ^jfor I have never eaten anything that is ^kcommon or ^lunclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, ^m“What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what ⁿthe vision that he had seen might mean, behold, ^othe men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering ⁿthe vision, ^pthe Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and ^qaccompany them without hesitation,³ for I have sent them.” 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and ^rGod-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by ^sa holy angel to send for you to come to his house and ^tto hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests.

The next day he rose and went away with them, and ^usome of ^vthe brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

In the Shadow of Your Wings

A ^fPrayer of David.

Joseph’s Dreams

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

2 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. 3 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 4 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.

5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 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.” 8 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.

9 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 him”—^wthat 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

1 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and ^oturned aside to a certain ^pAdullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^qShua. He took her and went in to her, 3 and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name ^rEr. 4 She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name ^rOnan. 5 Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name ^rShelah. Judah⁴ was in Chezib when she bore him.

6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, ^swas wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. 8 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.” 9 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, ^v“Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for 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, ^c“Your 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, ⁱ“She 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.