A Tree and Its Fruit

15 ^j“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ^kravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them ^lby their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, ^mevery healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 ⁿEvery tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them ^lby their fruits.

I Never Knew You

21 ^o“Not everyone who ^psays to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will ^qenter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who ^rdoes the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 ^sOn that day ^tmany will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not ^uprophesy in your name, and cast out demons ^vin your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 ^tAnd then will I declare to them, ‘I ^wnever knew you; ^xdepart from me, ^yyou workers of lawlessness.’

Build Your House on the Rock

24 ^z“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like ^aa wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like ^aa foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

The Authority of Jesus

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, ^bthe crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 ^cfor he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and ^wfell down at his feet and ^xworshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^y“Stand up; I too am a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew ^zto associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but ^aGod has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

30 And Cornelius said, ^b“Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at ^cthe ninth hour,¹ and behold, ^da man stood before me in bright clothing 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, ^eyour prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear the Good News

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that ^fGod ^gshows no partiality, 35 but ^fin every nation anyone who fears him and ^hdoes what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for ⁱthe word that he sent to Israel, ^jpreaching good news of ^kpeace through Jesus Christ (^lhe is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, ^mbeginning ⁿfrom Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how ^oGod anointed Jesus of Nazareth ^pwith the Holy Spirit and with ^qpower. He went about doing good and healing all ^rwho were oppressed by the devil, ^sfor God was with him. 39 And ^twe are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. ^uThey put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but ^vGod raised him on ^wthe third day and made him to ^xappear, 41 ^ynot to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as ^zwitnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And ^ahe commanded us to preach to the people and to testify ^bthat he is the one appointed by God to be judge ^cof the living and the dead. 43 ^dTo him ^eall the prophets bear witness that ^feveryone who believes in him receives ^gforgiveness of sins ^hthrough his name.”

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

44 While Peter was still saying these things, ⁱthe Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among ^jthe circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because ^kthe gift of the Holy Spirit ^lwas poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them ^mspeaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 ⁿ“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit ^ojust as we have?” 48 And he ^pcommanded them ^qto be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, ^fthe servant of the Lord, ^gwho addressed the words of this ^hsong to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

1 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. 2 ^oThe Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^pcaused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 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. 9 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

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

5 And 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. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, ^g“Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 They 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.”

9 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, ^j“This 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, ^o“This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 ^pIn 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.”

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.