Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan.^{(A) 2} These are the descendants of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children because he was the son of his old age, and he made him an ornamented robe.^{[a](B) 4} But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.^(C)

⁵ Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. ⁷ There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.”^{(D) 8} His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.^(E)

⁹ He had another dream and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: 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 kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?”^{(F) 11} So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.^(G)

Salutation

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

² To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord^[a] and ours:^(A)

³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(B)

⁴ I give thanks to my^[b] God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— ⁶ just as the testimony of^[c] Christ has been strengthened among you^(C)— ⁷ so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.^{(D) 8} He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the partnership of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.^(E)

Divisions in the Church

¹⁰ Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you but that you be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose.^{(F) 11} For it has been made clear to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. ¹² What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” ¹³ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?^{(G) 14} I thank God^[d] that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,^{(H) 15} so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.^{(I) 17} For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel—and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.^(J)

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

¹⁸ For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.^{(K) 19} For it is written,

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

1 The beginning of the good news^[a] of Jesus Christ.^[b](A)

² As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,^[c]

⁴ so John the baptizer appeared^[e] in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.^{(D) 5} And the whole Judean region and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.^{(E) 7} He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.^{(F) 8} I have baptized you with^[f] water, but he will baptize you with^[g] the Holy Spirit.”^(G)

The Baptism of Jesus

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.^{(H) 10} And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him.^{(I) 11} And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my Son, the Beloved;^[h] with you I am well pleased.”^(J)

The Testing of Jesus

¹² And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³ He was in the wilderness forty days, tested by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him.