The Lord, a Refuge and Defense.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

The Weeds Explained

³⁶ Then He left the crowds and went into ^(A)the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “^(B)Explain to us the parable of the ^[a]weeds of the field.” ³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is ^(C)the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are ^(D)the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are ^(E)the sons of ^(F)the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is ^(G)the ^[b]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at ^(H)the ^[c]end of the age. ^41 (I)The Son of Man ^(J)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ^[d]all ^(K)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and they ^(L)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(M)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ^43 (N)Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^(O)The one who has ears, ^[e]let him hear.

Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ “^(P)The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from ^[f]joy over it he goes and ^(Q)sells everything that he has, and buys that field.

A Costly Pearl

⁴⁵ “Again, ^(R)the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, ⁴⁶ and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold everything that he had and bought it.

A Dragnet

⁴⁷ “Again, ^(S)the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; ⁴⁸ and when it was filled, they pulled it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at ^(T)the ^[g]end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, ⁵⁰ and they ^(U)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(V)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” ⁵² And ^[h]Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”

Jesus Revisits Nazareth

^53 (W)When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. ⁵⁴ And ^(X)He came to ^[i]His hometown and ^(Y)began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that ^(Z)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these ^[j]miraculous powers? ⁵⁵ Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is ^(AA)His mother not called Mary, and His ^(AB)brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ And ^(AC)His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man acquire all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took ^(AD)offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “^(AE)A prophet is not dishonored except in his ^[k]hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸ And He did not do many ^[l]miracles there because of their unbelief.

Judah and Tamar

38 And it came about at that time, that Judah ^[a]departed from his brothers and ^[b]visited a certain ^(A)Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(B)Shua; and he took her as a wife and had relations with her. ³ And she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him ^(C)Er. ⁴ Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and she named him ^(D)Onan. ⁵ She gave birth to yet another son and named him ^(E)Shelah; and it was at Chezib ^[c]that she gave birth to him.

⁶ Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But ^(F)Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “^(G)Have relations with your brother’s wife and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a ^[d]child for your brother.” ⁹ Now Onan knew that the ^[e](H)child would not be his; so when he had relations with his brother’s wife, he ^[f]wasted his seed on the ground so that he would not give ^[g]a child to his brother. ¹⁰ But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He ^(I)took his life also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “^(J)Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he ^[h]thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² Now ^[i]after a considerable time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when ^[j]the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at ^(K)Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ And Tamar was told, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to ^(L)Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴ So she ^[k]removed her widow’s garments and ^(M)covered herself with a ^[l]veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of ^[m]Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and ^(N)she had not been given to him as a wife. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he assumed she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, “^[n]Here now, let me have relations 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 relations with me?” ¹⁷ He said, therefore, “I will send you a ^[o]young goat from the flock.” She then said, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?” ¹⁸ He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “^(O)Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had relations with her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ Then she got up and departed, and ^[p]removed her ^[q]veil and put on her widow’s garments.

²⁰ When Judah sent the ^[r]young goat by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. ²¹ He asked the people of her place, saying, “Where is the temple prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?” But they said, “There has been no temple prostitute here.” ²² So he returned to Judah, and said, “I did not find her; and furthermore, the people of the place said, ‘There has been no temple prostitute here.’” ²³ Then Judah said, “Let her ^[s]keep them, otherwise we will become a laughingstock. ^[t]After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

²⁴ Now it was about three months later that Judah was ^[u]informed, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and behold, she is also pregnant by prostitution.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and ^(P)have her burned!” ²⁵ It was while she was being brought out that she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, “I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong.” She also said, “^(Q)Please examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?” ²⁶ And Judah recognized them, and said, “^(R)She is more righteous than I, since ^(S)I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not ^[v]have relations with her again.

²⁷ It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were ^(T)twins in her womb. ²⁸ Moreover, it took place while she was giving birth, that one baby put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But it came about as he drew back his hand that behold, his brother came out. Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named ^[w](U)Perez. ³⁰ Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named ^[x](V)Zerah.

Joseph’s Success in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him ^[a]from the ^(A)Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. ² And ^(B)the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a ^[b]successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. ³ Now his master ^(C)saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^(D)made all that he did prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph ^(E)found favor in his sight and ^[c]became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and ^[d]put him in charge of ^(F)all that he owned. ⁵ It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord ^(G)blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; so ^(H)the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. ⁶ So he left ^[e]Joseph in charge of everything that he owned; and with him there he did not ^[f]concern himself with anything except the ^[g]food which he ^[h]ate.

Now Joseph was ^(I)handsome in form and appearance. ⁷ And it came about after these events ^(J)that his master’s wife ^[i]had her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “^(K)Sleep with me.” ⁸ But ^(L)he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master ^[j]does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has ^[k]put me in charge of all that he owns. ^9 [l](M)There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and ^(N)sin against God?” ¹⁰ Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. ¹¹ Now it happened ^[m]one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the household was there inside. ¹² So she grabbed him by his garment, saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. ^13 [n]When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a ^[o]Hebrew to us to make fun of us; he came in to me to sleep with me, and I ^[p]screamed. ¹⁵ When he heard that I raised my voice and ^[q]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” ¹⁶ So she ^[r]left his garment beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she ^(O)spoke to him ^[s]with these ^[t]words: “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make fun of me; ¹⁸ but when I raised my voice and ^[u]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

Joseph Imprisoned

¹⁹ Now when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, “^[v]This is what your slave did to me,” ^(P)his anger burned. ²⁰ So Joseph’s master took him and ^(Q)put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the prison. ²¹ But ^(R)the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and ^(S)gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. ²² And the warden of the prison ^[w](T)put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was ^[x]responsible for it. ^23 (U)The warden of the prison did not supervise anything ^[y]under Joseph’s authority, because ^(V)the Lord was with him; and, ^(W)the Lord made whatever he did prosper.