The King on a Cross^(A)

^26 (B)Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.

²⁷ And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. ²⁸ But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ^29 (C)For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will begin ^(D)‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ ^31 (E)For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”

^32 (F)There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. ³³ And ^(G)when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. ^34 [a]Then Jesus said, “Father, ^(H)forgive them, for ^(I)they do not know what they do.”

And ^(J)they divided His garments and cast lots. ³⁵ And ^(K)the people stood looking on. But even the ^(L)rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

³⁶ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him ^(M)sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”

^38 (N)And an inscription also was ^[b]written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

^39 (O)Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ^[c]“If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

⁴⁰ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done ^(P)nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said ^[d]to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

⁴³ And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in ^(Q)Paradise.”

Jesus Dies on the Cross^(R)

^44 (S)Now it ^[e]was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. ⁴⁵ Then the sun was ^[f]darkened, and ^(T)the veil of the temple was torn in ^[g]two. ⁴⁶ And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ^(U)‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” ^(V)Having said this, He breathed His last.

^47 (W)So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”

⁴⁸ And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. ^49 (X)But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb^(Y)

^50 (Z)Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. ⁵¹ He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, ^(AA)who^[h] himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵² This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ^53 (AB)Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. ⁵⁴ That day was ^(AC)the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.

⁵⁵ And the women ^(AD)who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and ^(AE)they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then they returned and ^(AF)prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath ^(AG)according to the commandment.

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

42 When ^(A)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” ² And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may ^(B)live and not die.”

³ So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, ^(C)“Lest some calamity befall him.” ⁵ And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was ^(D)in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now Joseph was governor ^(E)over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^(F)bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. ⁷ Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as ^(G)a stranger to them and spoke ^[a]roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?”

And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

⁸ So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. ⁹ Then Joseph ^(H)remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the ^[b]nakedness of the land!”

¹⁰ And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.”

¹² But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹³ And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one ^(I)is no more.”

¹⁴ But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ ¹⁵ In this manner you shall be tested: ^(J)By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be ^[c]kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” ¹⁷ So he ^[d]put them all together in prison ^(K)three days.

¹⁸ Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, ^(L)for I fear God: ¹⁹ If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. ²⁰ And ^(M)bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.”

And they did so. ²¹ Then they said to one another, ^(N)“We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; ^(O)therefore this distress has come upon us.”

²² And Reuben answered them, saying, ^(P)“Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now ^(Q)required of us.” ²³ But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. ²⁴ And he turned himself away from them and ^(R)wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took ^(S)Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

The Brothers Return to Canaan

²⁵ Then Joseph ^(T)gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to ^(U)restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. ^(V)Thus he did for them. ²⁶ So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. ²⁷ But as ^(W)one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸ So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts ^[e]failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁹ Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying: ³⁰ “The man who is lord of the land ^(X)spoke ^[f]roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ^(Y)‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone. ³⁴ And bring your ^(Z)youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may ^(AA)trade in the land.’ ”

³⁵ Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly ^(AB)each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ And Jacob their father said to them, “You have ^(AC)bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take ^(AD)Benjamin. All these things are against me.”

³⁷ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”

³⁸ But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for ^(AE)his brother is dead, and he is left alone. ^(AF)If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would ^(AG)bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”

The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History