12 At that ^[a]particular time Jesus went through the fields of standing grain on the Sabbath; and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick off the spikes of grain and to eat.^(A)

² And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, See there! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful and not permitted on the Sabbath.

³ He said to them, Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, and those who accompanied him—^(B)

⁴ How he went into the house of God and ate the loaves of the showbread—which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for the men who accompanied him, but for the priests only?

⁵ Or have you never read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the sanctity of the Sabbath [breaking it] and yet are guiltless?^(C)

⁶ But I tell you, Something greater and ^[b]more exalted and more majestic than the temple is here!

⁷ And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not have condemned the guiltless.^(D)

⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord [even] of the Sabbath.

⁹ And going on from there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰ And behold, a man was there with one withered hand. And they said to Him, Is it lawful or allowable to cure people on the Sabbath days?—that they might accuse Him.

¹¹ But He said to them, What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit or ditch on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹² How much better and of more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and allowable to do good on the Sabbath days.

¹³ Then He said to the man, Reach out your hand. And the man reached it out and it was restored, as sound as the other one.

¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and held a consultation against Him, how they might do away with Him.

¹⁵ But being aware of this, Jesus went away from there. And many people ^[c]joined and accompanied Him, and He cured all of them,

¹⁶ And strictly charged them and sharply warned them not to make Him ^[d]publicly known.

¹⁷ This was in fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah,

¹⁸ Behold, My Servant Whom I have chosen, My Beloved in and with Whom My soul is well pleased and ^[e]has found its delight. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim and ^[f]show forth justice to the nations.

¹⁹ He will not strive or wrangle or cry out loudly; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets;

²⁰ A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering (dimly burning) wick He will not quench, till He brings ^[g]justice and a just cause to victory.

²¹ And in and on His name will the Gentiles (the ^[h]peoples outside of Israel) set their hopes.^(E)

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38 At that time Judah withdrew from his brothers and went to [lodge with] a certain Adullamite named Hirah.

² There Judah saw and met a daughter of Shuah, a Canaanite; he took her as wife and lived with her.

³ And she became pregnant and bore a son, and he called him Er.

⁴ And she conceived again and bore a son and named him Onan.

⁵ Again she conceived and bore a son and named him Shelah. [They were living] at Chezib when she bore him.

⁶ Now Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn; her name was Tamar.

⁷ And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord slew him.

⁸ Then Judah told Onan, Marry your brother’s widow; live with her and raise offspring for your brother.

⁹ But Onan knew that the family would not be his, so when he cohabited with his brother’s widow, he prevented conception, lest he should raise up a child for his brother.

¹⁰ And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He slew him also.

¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow at your father’s house till Shelah my [youngest] son is grown; for he thought, Lest perhaps [if Shelah should marry her] he would die also, as his brothers did. So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² But later Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shuah, died; and when Judah was comforted, he went up to his sheepshearers at Timnath with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

¹³ Then it was told Tamar, Listen, your father-in-law is going up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

¹⁴ So she put off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself up [in disguise], and sat in the entrance of Enaim, which is by the road to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown and she was not given to him as his wife.

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot or devoted prostitute [under a vow to her goddess], for she had covered her face [as such women did].

¹⁶ He turned to her by the road and said, Come, let me have intercourse with you; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me that you may have intercourse with me?

¹⁷ He answered, I will send you a kid from the flock. And she said, Will you give me a pledge (deposit) until you send it?

¹⁸ And he said, What pledge shall I give you? She said, Your signet [seal], your [signet] cord, and your staff that is in your hand. And he gave them to her and came in to her, and she became pregnant by him.

¹⁹ And she arose and went away and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand; but he was unable to find her.

²¹ He asked the men of that place, Where is the harlot or cult prostitute who was openly by the roadside? They said, There was no harlot or temple prostitute here.

²² So he returned to Judah and said, I cannot find her; and also the local men said, There was no harlot or temple prostitute around here.

²³ And Judah said, Let her keep [the pledge articles] for herself, lest we be made ashamed. I sent this kid, but you have not found her.

²⁴ But about three months later Judah was told, Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot, and also she is with child by her lewdness. And Judah said, Bring her forth and let her be burned!

²⁵ When she was brought forth, she [took the things he had given her in pledge and] sent [them] to her father-in-law, saying, I am with child by the man to whom these articles belong. Then she added, Make out clearly, I pray you, to whom these belong, the signet [seal], [signet] cord, and staff.

²⁶ And Judah acknowledged them and said, She has been more righteous and just than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son. And he did not cohabit with her again.

²⁷ Now when the time came for her to be delivered, behold, there were twins in her womb.

²⁸ And when she was in labor, one baby put out his hand; and the midwife took his hand and bound upon it a scarlet thread, saying, This baby was born first.

²⁹ But he drew back his hand, and behold, his brother was born first. And she said, What a breaking forth you have made for yourself! Therefore his name was called Perez [breaking forth].^(A)

³⁰ And afterward his brother who had the scarlet thread on his hand was born and was named Zerah [scarlet].

39 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain and chief executioner of the [royal] guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

² But the Lord was with Joseph, and he [though a slave] was a successful and prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

³ And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to flourish and succeed in his hand.^(B)

⁴ So Joseph pleased [Potiphar] and found favor in his sight, and he served him. And [his master] made him supervisor over his house and he put all that he had in his charge.

⁵ From the time that he made him supervisor in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the Lord’s blessing was on all that he had in the house and in the field.

⁶ And [Potiphar] left all that he had in Joseph’s charge and paid no attention to anything he had except the food he ate. Now Joseph was an attractive person and fine-looking.

⁷ Then after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and she said, Lie with me.

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, See here, with me in the house my master has concern about nothing; he has put all that he has in my care.

⁹ He is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept anything from me except you, for you are his wife. How then can I do this great evil and sin against God?

¹⁰ She spoke to Joseph day after day, but he did not listen to her, to lie with her or to be with her.

¹¹ Then it happened about this time that Joseph went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the men of the house were indoors.

¹² And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me! But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out [of the house].

¹³ And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled away,

¹⁴ She called to the men of her household and said to them, Behold, he [your master] has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock and insult us; he came in where I was to lie with me, and I screamed at the top of my voice.

¹⁵ And when he heard me screaming and crying, he left his garment with me and fled and got out of the house.

¹⁶ And she laid up his garment by her until his master came home.

¹⁷ Then she told him the same story, saying, The Hebrew servant whom you brought among us came to me to mock and insult me.

¹⁸ And when I screamed and cried, he left his garment with me and fled out [of the house].

¹⁹ And when [Joseph’s] master heard the words of his wife, saying to him, This is the way your servant treated me, his wrath was kindled.

²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the state prisoners were confined; so he was there in the prison.

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy and loving-kindness and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison.

²² And the warden of the prison committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatsoever was done there, he was in charge of it.

²³ The prison warden paid no attention to anything that was in [Joseph’s] charge, for the Lord was with him and made whatever he did to prosper.