²⁴ All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

²⁰ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use.^{(A) 21} Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.^(B)

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!^(A) As the Father has sent me,^(B) I am sending you.”^{(C) 22} And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.^{(D) 23} If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”^(E)

²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,^{(A) 23} that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.^(B)

²⁴ “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me^(C) has eternal life^(D) and will not be judged^(E) but has crossed over from death to life.^{(F) 25} Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come^(G) when the dead will hear^(H) the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life^(I) in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge^(J) because he is the Son of Man.

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.^(A)

Daniel in the Den of Lions

6 ^[a]It pleased Darius^(A) to appoint 120 satraps^(B) to rule throughout the kingdom, ² with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel.^(C) The satraps were made accountable^(D) to them so that the king might not suffer loss. ³ Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.^(E)

¹¹ So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land,^(A) the district of Rameses,^(B) as Pharaoh directed. ¹² Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.^(C)

Joseph and the Famine

¹³ There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.^{(D) 14} Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying,^(E) and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.^{(F) 15} When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone,^(G) all Egypt came to Joseph^(H) and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes?^(I) Our money is all gone.”

¹⁶ “Then bring your livestock,^(J)” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.^(K)” ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses,^(L) their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys.^(M) And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

¹⁸ When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone^(N) and our livestock belongs to you,^(O) there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹ Why should we perish before your eyes^(P)—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food,^(Q) and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh.^(R) Give us seed so that we may live and not die,^(S) and that the land may not become desolate.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe^(T) for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, ²¹ and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,^[a](U) from one end of Egypt to the other. ²² However, he did not buy the land of the priests,^(V) because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment^(W) Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

²³ Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed^(X) for you so you can plant the ground.^{(Y) 24} But when the crop comes in, give a fifth^(Z) of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”

²⁵ “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord;^(AA) we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”^(AB)

⁴⁴ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”^{(A) 45} Pharaoh gave Joseph^(B) the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest^(C) of On,^[a](D) to be his wife.^(E) And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience^(A) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?^{(B) 23} What if he did this to make the riches of his glory^(C) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory^(D)—