Joseph’s Success in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him ^[a]from the ^(A)Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. ² And ^(B)the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a ^[b]successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. ³ Now his master ^(C)saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^(D)made all that he did prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph ^(E)found favor in his sight and ^[c]became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and ^[d]put him in charge of ^(F)all that he owned. ⁵ It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord ^(G)blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; so ^(H)the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. ⁶ So he left ^[e]Joseph in charge of everything that he owned; and with him there he did not ^[f]concern himself with anything except the ^[g]food which he ^[h]ate.

Now Joseph was ^(I)handsome in form and appearance. ⁷ And it came about after these events ^(J)that his master’s wife ^[i]had her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “^(K)Sleep with me.” ⁸ But ^(L)he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master ^[j]does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has ^[k]put me in charge of all that he owns. ^9 [l](M)There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and ^(N)sin against God?” ¹⁰ Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. ¹¹ Now it happened ^[m]one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the household was there inside. ¹² So she grabbed him by his garment, saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. ^13 [n]When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a ^[o]Hebrew to us to make fun of us; he came in to me to sleep with me, and I ^[p]screamed. ¹⁵ When he heard that I raised my voice and ^[q]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” ¹⁶ So she ^[r]left his garment beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she ^(O)spoke to him ^[s]with these ^[t]words: “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make fun of me; ¹⁸ but when I raised my voice and ^[u]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

Joseph Imprisoned

¹⁹ Now when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, “^[v]This is what your slave did to me,” ^(P)his anger burned. ²⁰ So Joseph’s master took him and ^(Q)put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the prison. ²¹ But ^(R)the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and ^(S)gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. ²² And the warden of the prison ^[w](T)put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was ^[x]responsible for it. ^23 (U)The warden of the prison did not supervise anything ^[y]under Joseph’s authority, because ^(V)the Lord was with him; and, ^(W)the Lord made whatever he did prosper.

The Transfiguration

9 And Jesus was saying to them, “^(A)Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God when it has come with power.”

^2 (B)And six days later Jesus *took with Him ^(C)Peter, ^[a]James, and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was ^[b]transfigured before them; ³ and ^(D)His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. ⁴ And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ Peter responded and *said to Jesus, “^(E)Rabbi, it is good that we are here; ^(F)let’s make three ^[c]tabernacles, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For he did not know how to reply; for they became terrified. ⁷ Then a cloud ^[d]formed, overshadowing them, and ^(G)a voice ^[e]came out of the cloud: “^(H)This is My beloved Son; ^[f]listen to Him!” ⁸ And suddenly they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

^9 (I)As they were coming down from the mountain, He ^(J)gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, ^[g]until the Son of Man rose from the dead. ¹⁰ They ^[h]seized upon ^[i]that statement, discussing with one another ^[j]what rising from the dead meant. ¹¹ And they asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that ^(K)Elijah must come first?” ¹² And He said to them, “Elijah does come first and he restores all things. And yet how is it written of ^(L)the Son of Man that ^(M)He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I say to you that Elijah has ^[k]indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written of him.”

All Things Possible

^14 (N)And when they came back to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were ^(O)amazed and began running up to greet Him. ¹⁶ And He asked them, “What are you disputing with them?” ¹⁷ And one person from the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, because he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; ¹⁸ and ^[l]whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes stiff. And I told Your disciples so that they would cast it out, but they could not do it.” ¹⁹ And He answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰ And they brought ^[m]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, the spirit immediately threw him into convulsions, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹ And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³ But Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ ^(P)All things are possible for the one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵ When Jesus saw that ^(Q)a crowd was ^[n]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I ^[o]command you, come out of him and do not enter him ^[p]again!” ²⁶ And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him, and he got up. ²⁸ When He came ^(R)into the house, His disciples began asking Him privately, “Why is it that we could not cast it out?” ²⁹ And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything except prayer.”

Death and Resurrection Foretold

^30 (S)And from there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. ³¹ For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “^(T)The Son of Man is to be ^[q]handed over to men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” ³² But ^(U)they ^[r]did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

^33 (V)They came to Capernaum; and when He was in ^(W)the house, He began to question them: “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way ^(X)they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. ³⁵ And sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “^(Y)If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And He took a child and placed him among them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷ “^(Z)Whoever ^[s]receives ^[t]one child like this in My name ^[u]receives Me; and whoever ^[v]receives Me does not ^[w]receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Dire Warnings

^38 (AA)John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and ^(AB)we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. ^40 (AC)For the one who is not against us is ^[x]for us. ⁴¹ For ^(AD)whoever gives you a cup of water to drink ^[y]because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.

⁴² “^(AE)Whoever causes one of these ^[z]little ones who believe in Me to ^[aa]sin, it is better for him if a heavy millstone is hung around his neck and he ^[ab]is thrown into the sea. ⁴³ And ^(AF)if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed, than, having your two hands, to go into ^[ac](AG)hell, into the ^(AH)unquenchable fire.^{[ad] 45} And if your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life without a foot, than, having your two feet, to be thrown into ^[ae](AI)hell.^{[af] 47} And ^(AJ)if your eye is causing you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be thrown into ^[ag](AK)hell, ^48 (AL)where their worm does not die, and ^(AM)the fire is not extinguished. ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but ^(AN)if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you ^[ah]make it salty again? ^(AO)Have salt in yourselves, and ^(AP)be at peace with one another.”

God Is Just

Deep Concern for Israel

9 ^(A)I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. ³ For ^(B)I could ^[a]wish that I myself were ^(C)accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen, my kinsmen ^(D)according to the flesh, ⁴ who are ^(E)Israelites, to whom belongs ^(F)the adoption as sons and daughters, ^(G)the glory, ^(H)the covenants, ^(I)the giving of the Law, ^(J)the temple service, and ^(K)the promises; ⁵ whose are ^(L)the fathers, and ^(M)from whom is the ^[b]Christ according to the flesh, ^(N)who is over all, ^(O)God ^(P)blessed ^[c]forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though ^(Q)the word of God has failed. ^(R)For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; ⁷ nor are they all children ^(S)because they are Abraham’s ^[d](T)descendants, but: “^[e](U)through Isaac your ^[f]descendants shall be named.” ⁸ That is, it is not the children of the flesh ^[g]who are ^(V)children of God, but the ^(W)children of the promise are regarded as ^[h](X)descendants. ⁹ For this is the word of promise: “^(Y)At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.” ^10 (Z)And not only that, but there was also ^(AA)Rebekah, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; ¹¹ for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that ^(AB)God’s purpose according to His choice would ^[i]stand, not ^[j]because of works but ^[k]because of Him who calls, ¹² it was said to her, “^(AC)The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ Just as it is written: “^(AD)Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

^14 (AE)What shall we say then? ^(AF)There is no injustice with God, is there? ^[l](AG)Far from it! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “^(AH)I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will show compassion to whomever I show compassion.” ¹⁶ So then, it does not depend on the person who ^[m]wants it nor the one who ^[n](AI)runs, but on ^(AJ)God who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “^(AK)For this very reason I raised you up, in order to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed ^[o]throughout the earth.” ¹⁸ So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He ^(AL)hardens whom He desires.

^19 (AM)You will say to me then, “^(AN)Why does He still find fault? For ^(AO)who has resisted His will?” ²⁰ On the contrary, who are you, ^[p](AP)you foolish person, who ^(AQ)answers back to God? ^(AR)The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? ²¹ Or does the potter not have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one object ^[q]for honorable use, and another ^[r]for common use? ^22 [s]What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great ^(AS)patience objects of wrath ^(AT)prepared for destruction? ²³ And He did so to make known ^(AU)the riches of His glory upon ^(AV)objects of mercy, which He ^(AW)prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ namely us, whom He also ^(AX)called, ^(AY)not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles, ²⁵ as He also says in Hosea:

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “^(BC)Though the number of the sons of Israel may be ^(BD)like the sand of the sea, only ^(BE)the remnant will be saved; ^28 (BF)for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, ^[t]thoroughly and ^[u]quickly.” ²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold:

^30 (BK)What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, but ^(BL)the righteousness that is ^[y]by faith; ³¹ however, Israel, ^(BM)pursuing a law of righteousness, did not ^(BN)arrive at that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it ^[z]by faith, but as though they could ^[aa]by works. They stumbled over ^(BO)the stumbling stone, ³³ just as it is written: