God's Good Purposes

¹⁵ When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ¹⁷ ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of ^(A)the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ His brothers also came and ^(B)fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for ^(C)am I in the place of God? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but ^(D)God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people^[a] should be kept alive, as they are today. ²¹ So do not fear; ^(E)I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

The Death of Joseph

²² So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. ²³ And Joseph saw Ephraim's children ^(F)of the third generation. The ^(G)children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were ^(H)counted as Joseph's own.^{[b] 24} And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but ^(I)God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land ^(J)that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then ^(K)Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They ^(L)embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

David and Jonathan's Friendship

18 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan ^(A)loved him as his own soul. ² And Saul took him that day ^(B)and would not let him return to his father's house. ³ Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because ^(C)he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. ⁵ And David went out ^(D)and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

Saul's Jealousy of David

⁶ As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, ^(E)the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.^{[a] 7} And the women ^(F)sang to one another as they celebrated,

⁸ And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but ^(H)the kingdom?” ⁹ And Saul eyed David from that day on.

¹⁰ The next day ^(I)a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and ^(J)he raved within his house while David was ^(K)playing the lyre, as he did day by day. ^(L)Saul had his spear in his hand. ¹¹ And Saul ^(M)hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.

^12 (N)Saul was afraid of David because ^(O)the Lord was with him ^(P)but had departed from Saul. ¹³ So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. ^(Q)And he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David ^(R)had success in all his undertakings, ^(S)for the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ And when Saul saw that ^(T)he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. ^16 (U)But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

Impending Disaster for Jerusalem

Peter Denies Jesus

^69 (A)Now Peter was sitting outside ^(B)in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” ⁷¹ And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus ^(C)of Nazareth.” ⁷² And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” ⁷³ After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for ^(D)your accent betrays you.” ⁷⁴ Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, ^(E)“Before the rooster crows, you will ^(F)deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

27 ^(G)When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people ^(H)took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. ² And they bound him and ^(I)led him away and ^(J)delivered him over to ^(K)Pilate the governor.

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, ^(A)“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For ^(B)you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(C)“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. ^(D)All such boasting is evil. ^17 (E)So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, ^(F)you rich, weep and howl for the ^(G)miseries that are coming upon you. ^2 (H)Your riches have rotted and ^(I)your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(J)You have laid up treasure ^(K)in the last days. ⁴ Behold, ^(L)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^(M)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^(N)the Lord of hosts. ^5 (O)You have lived on the earth in luxury and ^(P)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^(Q)a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and ^(R)murdered ^(S)the righteous person. He does not resist you.