Your Throne, O God, Is Forever

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)the Sons of Korah; a love song.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near ^(A)Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of ^(B)Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵ And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶ “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷ And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to ^(C)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at ^(D)Dothan.

¹⁸ They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^(E)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Come now, ^(F)let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.^[a] Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹ But when ^(G)Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—^(H)that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, ^(I)the robe of many colors that he wore. ²⁴ And they took him and ^(J)threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

^20 (A)Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? ^(B)Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[a] to save those who believe. ²² For ^(C)Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ ^(D)crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(E)the power of God and ^(F)the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: ^(G)not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,^[b] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But ^(H)God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; ^(I)God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even ^(J)things that are not, to ^(K)bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so ^(L)that no human being^[c] might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him^[d] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us ^(M)wisdom from God, ^(N)righteousness and ^(O)sanctification and ^(P)redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, ^(Q)“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14 (A)Now after John was arrested, Jesus ^(B)came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, ^(C)“The time is fulfilled, and ^(D)the kingdom of God is at hand;^{[a] (E)}repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

^16 (F)Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become ^(G)fishers of men.”^{[b] 18} And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰ And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

^21 (H)And they went into Capernaum, and immediately ^(I)on the Sabbath ^(J)he entered the synagogue and was teaching. ²² And ^(K)they were astonished at his teaching, ^(L)for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ^24 (M)“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^(N)I know who you are—^(O)the Holy One of God.” ²⁵ But Jesus ^(P)rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit, ^(Q)convulsing him and ^(R)crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all ^(S)amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? ^(T)A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.