Joseph Interprets a Dream

40 Then it came about after these things, ^(A)the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was ^(B)furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ³ So he put them in confinement in the house of the ^(C)captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. ⁴ The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he ^[a]took care of them; and they were in confinement for ^[b]some time. ⁵ Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. ^6 [c]When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, ^[d]behold, they were dejected. ⁷ He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “^[e](D)Why are your faces so sad today?” ⁸ Then they said to him, “^(E)We have ^[f]had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “^(F)Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, ^[g]behold, there was a vine in front of me; ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. ¹¹ Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s ^[h]hand.” ¹² Then Joseph said to him, “This is the ^(G)interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; ¹³ within three more days Pharaoh will ^[i]lift up your head and restore you to your ^[j]office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ Only ^[k]keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please ^(H)do me a kindness ^[l]by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. ¹⁵ For ^(I)I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the ^[m]dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; ¹⁷ and in the top basket there were some of all ^[n]sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸ Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; ¹⁹ within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

²⁰ Thus it came about on the third day, which was ^(J)Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; ^(K)and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer to his ^[o]office, and ^(L)he put the cup into Pharaoh’s ^[p]hand; ²² but ^(M)he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but ^(N)forgot him.

Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce

10 ^(A)Getting up, He *went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered around Him again, and, ^(B)according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.

² Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to ^[a]divorce a wife. ³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “^(C)Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and ^[b]send her away.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “^[c](D)Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶ But ^(E)from the beginning of creation, God ^(F)made them male and female. ^7 (G)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother^[d], ^8 (H)and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

¹⁰ In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. ¹¹ And He *said to them, “^(I)Whoever ^[e]divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹² and ^(J)if she herself ^[f]divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

^13 (K)And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; ^(L)for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, ^(M)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶ And He ^(N)took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Rich Young Ruler

^17 (O)As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and ^(P)knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to ^(Q)inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments, ‘^(R)Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰ And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept ^(S)all these things from my youth up.” ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have ^(T)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But at these words ^[g]he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “^(U)How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ The disciples ^(V)were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ^25 (W)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ They were even more astonished and said to Him, “^[h]Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus *said, “^(X)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

^28 (Y)Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, ^(Z)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, ^30 [i]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in ^[j]the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in ^(AA)the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But ^(AB)many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Jesus’ Sufferings Foretold

^32 (AC)They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they ^(AD)were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, ³³ saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and ^(AE)the Son of Man will be ^[k]delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will ^[l]hand Him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ They will mock Him and ^(AF)spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”

^35 [m](AG)James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” ³⁶ And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³⁷ They said to Him, “^[n]Grant that we ^(AH)may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” ³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(AI)to drink the cup that I drink, or ^(AJ)to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” ³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink ^(AK)you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. ⁴⁰ But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; ^(AL)but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

^41 (AM)Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with ^[o]James and John. ⁴² Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it is not this way among you, ^(AN)but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴ and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man ^(AO)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[p]life a ransom for many.”

Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

^46 (AP)Then they *came to Jericho. And ^(AQ)as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus the ^(AR)Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, ^(AS)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “^(AT)Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “^(AU)Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” ⁵⁰ Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “^[q](AV)Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go; ^(AW)your faith has ^[r]made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.