You Will Know Them by Their Fruits^(A)

^15 (B)“Beware of false prophets, ^(C)who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ^16 (D)You will know them by their fruits. ^(E)Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, ^(F)every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ^19 (G)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

I Never Knew You^(H)

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ^(I)‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who ^(J)does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we ^(K)not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And ^(L)then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; ^(M)depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Build on the Rock^(N)

²⁴ “Therefore ^(O)whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

²⁶ “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

²⁸ And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that ^(P)the people were astonished at His teaching, ^29 (Q)for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Peter Meets Cornelius

²⁴ And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^(A)“Stand up; I myself am also a man.” ²⁷ And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. ²⁸ Then he said to them, “You know how ^(B)unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But ^(C)God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. ²⁹ Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?”

³⁰ So Cornelius said, ^[a]“Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, ^(D)a man stood before me ^(E)in bright clothing, ³¹ and said, ‘Cornelius, ^(F)your prayer has been heard, and ^(G)your ^[b]alms are remembered in the sight of God. ³² Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. ^[c]When he comes, he will speak to you.’ ³³ So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.”

Preaching to Cornelius’ Household

³⁴ Then Peter opened his mouth and said: ^(H)“In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. ³⁵ But ^(I)in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is ^(J)accepted by Him. ³⁶ The word which God sent to the ^[d]children of Israel, ^(K)preaching peace through Jesus Christ—^(L)He is Lord of all— ³⁷ that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and ^(M)began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: ³⁸ how ^(N)God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who ^(O)went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, ^(P)for God was with Him. ³⁹ And we are ^(Q)witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom ^[e]they ^(R)killed by hanging on a tree. ⁴⁰ Him ^(S)God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, ^41 (T)not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us ^(U)who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴² And ^(V)He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify ^(W)that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge ^(X)of the living and the dead. ^43 (Y)To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, ^(Z)whoever believes in Him will receive ^(AA)remission^[f] of sins.”

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, ^(AB)the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. ^45 (AC)And ^[g]those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, ^(AD)because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶ For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷ “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit ^(AE)just as we have?” ^48 (AF)And he commanded them to be baptized ^(AG)in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

God the Sovereign Savior^(A)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David ^(B)the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of ^(C)this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:

Joseph a Slave in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken ^(A)down to Egypt. And ^(B)Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, ^(C)bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. ^2 (D)The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful 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 ^(E)made all he did ^[a]to prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph ^(F)found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him ^(G)overseer of his house, and all that he had he put ^[b]under his authority. ⁵ So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that ^(H)the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶ Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s ^[c]hand, and he did not know what he had except for the ^[d]bread which he ate.

Now Joseph ^(I)was handsome in form and appearance.

⁷ And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife ^[e]cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ^(J)“Lie with me.”

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. ⁹ There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. ^(K)How then can I do this great wickedness, and ^(L)sin against God?”

¹⁰ So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he ^(M)did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

¹¹ But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, ¹² that she ^(N)caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. ¹³ And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, ¹⁴ that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a ^(O)Hebrew to ^[f]mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵ And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”

¹⁶ So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she ^(P)spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; ¹⁸ so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

¹⁹ So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his ^(Q)anger was aroused. ²⁰ Then Joseph’s master took him and ^(R)put him into the ^(S)prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He ^(T)gave^[g] him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison ^(U)committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. ²³ The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under ^[h]Joseph’s authority, because ^(V)the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

The Prisoners’ Dreams

40 It came to pass after these things that the ^(W)butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² And Pharaoh was ^(X)angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. ^3 (Y)So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. ⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

⁵ Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, ^(Z)had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. ⁶ And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were ^[i]sad. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, ^(AA)“Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ And they said to him, ^(AB)“We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”

So Joseph said to them, ^(AC)“Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

⁹ Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, ¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² And Joseph said to him, ^(AD)“This is the interpretation of it: The three branches ^(AE)are three days. ¹³ Now within three days Pharaoh will ^(AF)lift up your head and restore you to your ^[j]place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. ¹⁴ But ^(AG)remember me when it is well with you, and ^(AH)please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. ¹⁵ For indeed I was ^(AI)stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; ^(AJ)and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three ^[k]white baskets on my head. ¹⁷ In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ So Joseph answered and said, ^(AK)“This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. ^19 (AL)Within three days Pharaoh will lift ^[l]off your head from you and ^(AM)hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

²⁰ Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s ^(AN)birthday, that he ^(AO)made a feast for all his servants; and he ^(AP)lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ Then he ^(AQ)restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and ^(AR)he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But he ^(AS)hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but ^(AT)forgot him.