A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.

A Psalm of David.

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.

¹⁴ But ^[a]a ^(A)natural person ^(B)does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ^(C)foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ But the one who is ^(D)spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is ^[b]discerned by no one. ¹⁶ For ^(E)who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But ^(F)we have the mind of Christ.

Foundations for Living

3 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as ^(G)spiritual people, but only as ^(H)fleshly, as to ^(I)infants in Christ. ² I gave you ^(J)milk to drink, not solid food; for you ^(K)were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able, ³ for you are still fleshly. For since there is ^(L)jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking ^(M)like ordinary people? ⁴ For when ^(N)one person says, “I am ^[c]with Paul,” and another, “I am ^[d]with Apollos,” are you not ordinary ^(O)people?

⁵ What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? ^(P)Servants through whom you believed, even ^(Q)as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. ^6 (R)I planted, ^(S)Apollos watered, but ^(T)God was causing the growth. ⁷ So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. ⁸ Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will ^(U)receive his own ^[e]reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s ^(V)fellow workers; you are God’s ^[f](W)field, God’s ^(X)building.

¹⁰ According to ^(Y)the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder ^(Z)I laid a foundation, and ^(AA)another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no one can lay a ^(AB)foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ^13 (AC)each one’s work will become evident; for ^(AD)the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test ^[g]the quality of each one’s work. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will ^(AE)receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only ^(AF)so as through fire.

The Paralyzed Man Healed

2 When Jesus came back to Capernaum a few days later, it was heard that He was at home. ² And ^(A)many were gathered together, so that there was no longer space, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. ^3 (B)And some people *came, bringing to Him a man who was ^(C)paralyzed, carried by four men. ⁴ And when they were unable to ^[a]get to Him because of the crowd, they ^(D)removed the roof ^[b]above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the ^(E)paralyzed man was lying. ⁵ And Jesus, seeing their faith, *said to the paralyzed man, “Son, ^(F)your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking it over in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming! ^(G)Who can forgive sins except God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus, aware ^[c]in His spirit that they were thinking that way within themselves, *said to them, “Why are you thinking about these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the ^(H)paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He *said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet, and go home.” ¹² And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and ^(I)were glorifying God, saying, “^(J)We have never seen anything like this!”