Book of Common Prayer

The King of Glory Entering Zion.

^[a]A Psalm of David.

The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.

A Psalm of David.

The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.

To the Chief Musician; set to ^[a]a Philistine lute [or perhaps to a particular Hittite tune]. A Psalm of David.

Longing for the Temple Worship.

To the Chief Musician; set to a ^[a]Philistine lute. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

Joseph Interprets

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when Joseph shaved himself and changed his clothes [making himself presentable], he came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you that you can understand a dream and interpret it.” ¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me [to interpret the dream]; God [not I] will give Pharaoh a ^[a]favorable answer [through me].” ¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile; ¹⁸ and seven fat, sleek and handsome cows came up out of the river, and they grazed in the reed grass [of a marshy pasture]. ¹⁹ Lo, seven other cows came up after them, very ugly and gaunt [just skin and bones]; such emaciated animals as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. ²¹ Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had eaten them, because they were still as thin and emaciated as before. Then I awoke [but again I fell asleep and dreamed]. ²² I saw in my [second] dream, seven ears [of grain], plump and good, growing on a single stalk; ²³ and lo, seven [other] ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them; ²⁴ and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. Now I told this to the magicians and soothsayers, but there was no one who could explain it [to me].”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The [two] dreams are one [and the same and have one interpretation]; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the [two] dreams are one [and the same]. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years; and also the seven thin ears, dried up and scorched by the east wind, they are seven years of famine and hunger. ²⁸ This is the message just as I have told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Listen very carefully: seven years of great abundance will come throughout all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ but afterward seven years of famine and hunger will come, and [there will be such desperate need that] all the great abundance [of the previous years] will be forgotten in the land of Egypt [as if it never happened], and famine and destitution will ravage and destroy the land. ³¹ So the great abundance will become forgotten in the land because of that subsequent famine, for it will be very severe. ³² That the dream was repeated twice to Pharaoh [and in two different ways] indicates that this matter is fully determined and established by God, and God will bring it to pass very quickly. ³³ So now let Pharaoh [prepare ahead and] look for a man discerning and clear-headed and wise, and set him [in charge] over the land of Egypt [as governor under Pharaoh]. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers and officials over the land, and set aside one-fifth [of the produce] of the [entire] land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Let them gather [as a tax] all [of the fifth of] the food of these good years that are coming, and store up grain under the direction and authority of Pharaoh, and let them guard the food [in fortified granaries] in the cities. ³⁶ That food shall be put [in storage] as a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine and hunger which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land (people) will not be ravaged during the famine.”

³⁷ Now the plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all of his servants.

Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt

³⁸ So Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this [a man equal to Joseph], in whom is the divine spirit [of God]?” ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since [your] God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and clear-headed and wise as you are. ⁴⁰ You shall have charge over my house, and all my people shall ^[b]be governed according to your word and pay respect [to you with reverence, submission, and obedience]; only in [matters of] the throne will I be greater than you [in Egypt].” ⁴¹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you [in charge] over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and dressed him in [official] vestments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He had him ride in his second chariot; and runners proclaimed before him, “[Attention,] bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission shall no man raise his hand [to do anything] or set his foot [to go anywhere] in all the land of Egypt [all classes of people shall submit to your authority].” ⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh named Joseph ^[c]Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On (Heliopolis in Egypt), as his wife. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt [to inspect and govern it].

³ Or are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been ^[a]baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory and power of the Father, we too might walk habitually in newness of life [abandoning our old ways]. ⁵ For if we have become one with Him [permanently united] in the likeness of His death, we will also certainly be [one with Him and share fully] in the likeness of His resurrection. ⁶ We know that our old ^[b]self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. ⁷ For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin.

⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live [together] with Him, ⁹ because we know [the self-evident truth] that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]. ¹¹ Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts and passions. ¹³ Do not go on offering members of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves to God [in a decisive act] as those alive [raised] from the dead [to a new life], and your members [all of your abilities—sanctified, set apart] as instruments of righteousness [yielded] to God. ¹⁴ For sin will no longer be a master over you, since you are not under Law [as slaves], but under [unmerited] grace [as recipients of God’s favor and mercy].

¹⁹ So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son ^[a]can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way. ²⁰ For the Father dearly loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be filled with wonder. ²¹ Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life [and allows them to live on], even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. ²² For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment [that is, the prerogative of judging] to the Son [placing it entirely into His hands], ²³ so that all will give honor (reverence, homage) to the Son just as they give honor to the Father. [In fact] the one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who has sent Him.

²⁴ “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the person who hears My word [the one who heeds My message], and believes and trusts in Him who sent Me, has (possesses now) eternal life [that is, eternal life actually begins—the believer is transformed], and does not come into judgment and condemnation, but has passed [over] from death into life.