¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile; ¹⁸ and behold, seven cows, ^[a]fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ^[b]ugly and ^[c]thin, such as I had never seen for ^[d]ugliness in all the land of Egypt; ²⁰ and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows. ²¹ Yet when they had ^[e]devoured them, it could not be ^[f]detected that they had ^[g]devoured them, ^[h]for they were just as ugly as ^[i]before. Then I awoke. ²² I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk; ²³ and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them; ²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then ^(A)I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ And Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s ^[j]dreams are one and the same; ^(B)God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the ^[k]dreams are one and the same. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind ^(C)will be seven years of famine. ^28 [l]It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: ^(D)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Behold, ^(E)seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ and after them ^(F)seven years of famine will ^[m]come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ^[n]ravage the land. ³¹ So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe. ³² Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^(G)the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about. ³³ So now let Pharaoh look for a man ^(H)discerning and wise, and appoint him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers ^[o]in charge of the land, and let him take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt as a tax in the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Then have them ^(I)collect all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and have them guard it. ³⁶ Let the food be used as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”

³⁷ Now the ^[p]proposal seemed good ^[q]to Pharaoh and ^[r]to all his servants.

Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt

³⁸ Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, ^(J)in whom there is a divine spirit?” ³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one as ^(K)discerning and wise as you are. ^40 (L)You shall be ^[s]in charge of my house, and all my people shall ^[t]be obedient to you; only regarding the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I have placed you ^(M)over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh ^(N)took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and ^(O)put the gold necklace around his neck. ⁴³ And he had him ride in ^[u]his second chariot; and they proclaimed ahead of him, “^[v]Bow the knee!” And he placed him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet ^(P)without ^[w]your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh named Joseph ^[x]Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ^[y](Q)On, to be his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Now Joseph was ^(R)thirty years old when he ^[z]stood in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven years of plenty the land produced ^[aa]abundantly. ⁴⁸ So he collected all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities; he put in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up grain ^[ab]in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped ^[ac]measuring it, for it was ^[ad]beyond measure.

The Sons of Joseph

⁵⁰ Now before the year of famine came, ^(S)two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of ^[ae]On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn ^[af]Manasseh; “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all of my father’s household.” ⁵² And he named the second ^[ag]Ephraim; “For,” he said, “^(T)God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ When the seven years of plenty which had taken place in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴ and ^(U)the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ So when all the land of Egypt suffered famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; ^(V)whatever he says to you, you shall do.” ⁵⁶ When the famine was spread over the entire face of the earth, then Joseph opened all ^[ah]the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because ^(W)the famine was severe in all the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

42 Now ^(X)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” ² Then he said, “Look, ^(Y)I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from ^[ai]that place, ^(Z)so that we may live and not die.” ³ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother ^(AA)Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “^(AB)I am afraid that harm may happen to him.” ⁵ So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, ^(AC)because the famine was also in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now ^(AD)Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^(AE)bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and ^(AF)spoke to them harshly. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸ But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although ^(AG)they did not recognize him. ⁹ And Joseph ^(AH)remembered the dreams which he ^[aj]had about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ^[ak]undefended parts of our land.” ¹⁰ And they said to him, “No, ^(AI)my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all sons of one man; we are ^(AJ)honest men, your servants are not spies.” ¹² Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ^[al]undefended parts of our land!” ¹³ But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with ^(AK)our father today, and ^(AL)one is no longer alive.” ¹⁴ Yet Joseph said to them, “It is as I said ^[am]to you, you are spies; ¹⁵ by this you will be tested: ^(AM)by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶ Send one of you and have him get your brother, while you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, whether there is ^(AN)truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, you are certainly spies!” ¹⁷ So he put them all together in ^(AO)prison for three days.

Weeds among Wheat

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “^(A)The kingdom of heaven ^[a]is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ^[b]weeds among the wheat, and left. ²⁶ And when the ^[c]wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident. ²⁷ And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? ^[d]How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘^[e]An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he *said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but ^(B)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed

³¹ He presented another parable to them, saying, “^(C)The kingdom of heaven is like ^(D)a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field; ³² and this is smaller than all the other seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that ^(E)the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”

The Leaven

³³ He spoke another parable to them: “^(F)The kingdom of heaven is like ^[f]leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(G)three ^[g]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak anything to them ^(H)without a parable. ³⁵ This was so that what was spoken through the prophet would be ^[h]fulfilled:

The Weeds Explained

³⁶ Then He left the crowds and went into ^(J)the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “^(K)Explain to us the parable of the ^[i]weeds of the field.” ³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is ^(L)the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are ^(M)the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are ^(N)the sons of ^(O)the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is ^(P)the ^[j]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 ^(Q)the ^[k]end of the age. ^41 (R)The Son of Man ^(S)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ^[l]all ^(T)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and they ^(U)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(V)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ^43 (W)Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^(X)The one who has ears, ^[m]let him hear.

Hidden Treasure

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

A Costly Pearl

⁴⁵ “Again, ^(AA)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.

The Lord Praised for Rescuing David.

For the music director. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, ^[a]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,

A Father’s Instruction