Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near ^(A)Shechem. 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 ^(B)Hebron, 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 ^(C)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at ^(D)Dothan.

¹⁸ They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^(E)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Come now, ^(F)let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.^[a] Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹ But when ^(G)Reuben 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”—^(H)that 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, ^(I)the robe of many colors that he wore. ²⁴ And they took him and ^(J)threw 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 ^(K)caravan of ^(L)Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^(M)gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it ^(N)if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(O)let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Then ^(P)Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and ^(Q)sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels^[b] of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he ^(R)tore his clothes ³⁰ and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy ^(S)is gone, and I, where shall I go?” ³¹ Then they took ^(T)Joseph'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. ^(U)A 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 ^(V)rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, ^(W)I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. ³⁶ Meanwhile ^(X)the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, ^(Y)the captain of the guard.

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

3 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek ^(A)rest for you, that it may be well with you? ² Is not Boaz ^(B)our relative, ^(C)with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. ^3 (D)Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” ⁵ And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”

⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. ⁷ And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and ^(E)his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸ At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! ⁹ He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. ^(F)Spread your wings^[a] over your servant, for you are ^(G)a redeemer.” ¹⁰ And he said, ^(H)“May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than ^(I)the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹ And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are ^(J)a worthy woman. ¹² And now it is true that I am ^(K)a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. ¹³ Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will ^(L)redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, ^(M)as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. ¹⁶ And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, ¹⁷ saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” ¹⁸ She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”

The Lord's Coming Salvation

³ For thus says the Lord: ^(G)“You were sold for nothing, and ^(H)you shall be redeemed without money.” ⁴ For thus says the Lord God: ^(I)“My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.^{[a] 5} Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and ^(J)continually all the day my name is despised. ⁶ Therefore my people shall know my name. ^(K)Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

The Parable of the Tenants

^33 (A)“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^(B)a vineyard ^(C)and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^(D)leased it to tenants, and ^(E)went into another country. ³⁴ When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants^[a] to the tenants ^(F)to get his fruit. ^35 (G)And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^(H)stoned another. ^36 (I)Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^(J)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(K)let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him and ^(L)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ^40 (M)When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, ^(N)“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^(O)let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(P)“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^(R)will be taken away from you and given to a people ^(S)producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And ^(T)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^(U)when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”^[c]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And ^(V)although they were seeking to arrest him, ^(W)they feared the crowds, because they held him to be ^(X)a prophet.

^6 (A)“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. ⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am ^(B)Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ ^9 (C)Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand^[a] the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ^(D)‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹² “And ^(E)one Ananias, a devout man ^(F)according to the law, ^(G)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ^13 (H)came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And ^(I)at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. ¹⁴ And he said, ^(J)‘The God of our fathers ^(K)appointed you to know his will, ^(L)to see ^(M)the Righteous One and ^(N)to hear a voice from his mouth; ¹⁵ for ^(O)you will be a witness for him to everyone of what ^(P)you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now why do you wait? ^(Q)Rise and be baptized and ^(R)wash away your sins, ^(S)calling on his name.’