M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Joseph Has Two Dreams

37 Jacob lived in the land of Canaan. It’s the land where his father had stayed.

² Here is the story of the family line of Jacob.

Joseph was a young man. He was 17 years old. He was taking care of the flocks with some of his brothers. They were the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father Jacob. Joseph brought their father a bad report about his brothers.

³ Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. That’s because Joseph had been born to him when he was old. Israel made him a beautiful robe. ⁴ Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them. So they hated Joseph. They couldn’t even speak one kind word to him.

⁵ Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Listen to the dream I had. ⁷ We were tying up bundles of grain out in the field. Suddenly my bundle stood up straight. Your bundles gathered around my bundle and bowed down to it.”

⁸ His brothers said to him, “Do you plan to be king over us? Will you really rule over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream. They didn’t like what he had said.

⁹ Then Joseph had another dream. He told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said. “I had another dream. This time the sun and moon and 11 stars were bowing down to me.”

¹⁰ He told his father as well as his brothers. Then his father rebuked him. He said, “What about this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers really do that? Will we really come and bow down to the ground in front of you?” ¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him. But his father kept the dreams in mind.

Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers

¹² Joseph’s brothers had gone to take care of their father’s flocks near Shechem. ¹³ Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are taking care of the flocks near Shechem. Come. I’m going to send you to them.”

“All right,” Joseph replied.

¹⁴ So Israel said to him, “Go to your brothers. See how they are doing. Also see how the flocks are doing. Then come back and tell me.” So he sent him away from the Hebron Valley.

Joseph arrived at Shechem. ¹⁵ A man found him wandering around in the fields. He asked Joseph, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their flocks?”

¹⁷ “They’ve moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ”

So Joseph went to look for his brothers. He found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him a long way off. Before he reached them, they made plans to kill him.

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to one another. ²⁰ “Come. Let’s kill him. Let’s throw him into one of these empty wells. Let’s say that a wild animal ate him up. Then we’ll see whether his dreams will come true.”

²¹ Reuben heard them talking. He tried to save Joseph from them. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. ²² “Don’t spill any of his blood. Throw him into this empty well here in the desert. But don’t harm him yourselves.” Reuben said that to save Joseph from them. He was hoping he could take him back to his father.

²³ When Joseph came to his brothers, he was wearing his beautiful robe. They took it away from him. ²⁴ And they threw him into the well. The well was empty. There wasn’t any water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat their meal. As they did, they saw some Ishmaelite traders coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, lotion and myrrh. They were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and try to cover up what we’ve done? ²⁷ Come. Let’s sell him to these traders. Let’s not harm him ourselves. After all, he’s our brother. He’s our own flesh and blood.” Judah’s brothers agreed with him.

²⁸ The traders from Midian came by. Joseph’s brothers pulled him up out of the well. They sold him to the Ishmaelite traders for eight ounces of silver. Then the traders took him to Egypt.

²⁹ Later, Reuben came back to the empty well. He saw that Joseph wasn’t there. He was so upset that he tore his clothes. ³⁰ He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Now what should I do?”

³¹ Then they got Joseph’s beautiful robe. They killed a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³² They took the robe back to their father. They said, “We found this. Take a look at it. See if it’s your son’s robe.”

³³ Jacob recognized it. He said, “It’s my son’s robe! A wild animal has eaten him up. Joseph must have been torn to pieces.”

³⁴ Jacob tore his clothes. He put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. Then he mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All Jacob’s other sons and daughters came to comfort him. But they weren’t able to. He said, “I will continue to mourn until I go down into the grave to be with my son.” So Joseph’s father mourned for him.

³⁶ But the traders from Midian sold Joseph to Potiphar in Egypt. Potiphar was one of Pharaoh’s officials. He was the captain of the palace guard.

What Makes People “Unclean”?

7 The Pharisees gathered around Jesus. So did some of the teachers of the law. All of them had come from Jerusalem. ² They saw some of his disciples eating food with “unclean” hands. That means they were not washed. ³ The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands to make them “clean.” That’s what the elders teach. ⁴ When they come from the market, they do not eat unless they wash. And they follow many other teachings. For example, they wash cups, pitchers, and kettles in a special way.

⁵ So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioned Jesus. “Why don’t your disciples live by what the elders teach?” they asked. “Why do they eat their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”

⁶ He replied, “Isaiah was right. He prophesied about you people who pretend to be good. He said,

⁸ You have let go of God’s commands. And you are holding on to teachings that people have made up.”

⁹ Jesus continued speaking, “You have a fine way of setting aside God’s commands! You do this so you can follow your own teachings. ¹⁰ Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’ (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16) He also said, ‘Anyone who asks for bad things to happen to their father or mother must be put to death.’ (Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9) ¹¹ But you allow people to say that what might have been used to help their parents is Corban. Corban means A Gift Set Apart for God. ¹² So you no longer let them do anything for their parents. ¹³ You make the word of God useless by putting your own teachings in its place. And you do many things like this.”

¹⁴ Again Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen to me, everyone. Understand this. ^15-16 Nothing outside of a person can make them ‘unclean’ by going into them. It is what comes out of them that makes them ‘unclean.’ ”

¹⁷ Then he left the crowd and entered the house. His disciples asked him about this teaching. ¹⁸ “Don’t you understand?” Jesus asked. “Don’t you see? Nothing that enters a person from the outside can make them ‘unclean.’ ¹⁹ It doesn’t go into their heart. It goes into their stomach. Then it goes out of the body.” In saying this, Jesus was calling all foods “clean.”

²⁰ He went on to say, “What comes out of a person is what makes them ‘unclean.’ ²¹ Evil thoughts come from the inside, from a person’s heart. So do sexual sins, stealing and murder. ²² Adultery, greed, hate and cheating come from a person’s heart too. So do desires that are not pure, and wanting what belongs to others. And so do telling lies about others and being proud and being foolish. ²³ All these evil things come from inside a person and make them ‘unclean.’ ”

Jesus Honors a Greek Woman’s Faith

²⁴ Jesus went from there to a place near Tyre. He entered a house. He did not want anyone to know where he was. But he could not keep it a secret. ²⁵ Soon a woman heard about him. An evil spirit controlled her little daughter. The woman came to Jesus and fell at his feet. ²⁶ She was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸ “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then he told her, “That was a good reply. You may go. The demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰ So she went home and found her child lying on the bed. And the demon was gone.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Hear or Speak

³¹ Then Jesus left the area of Tyre and went through Sidon. He went down to the Sea of Galilee and into the area known as the Ten Cities. ³² There some people brought a man to Jesus. The man was deaf and could hardly speak. They begged Jesus to place his hand on the man.

³³ Jesus took the man to one side, away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ Jesus looked up to heaven. With a deep sigh, he said to the man, “Ephphatha!” That means “Be opened!” ³⁵ The man’s ears were opened. His tongue was freed up, and he began to speak clearly.

³⁶ Jesus ordered the people not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. ³⁷ People were really amazed. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes deaf people able to hear. And he makes those who can’t speak able to talk.”

Job Wishes He Had Never Been Born

3 After a while, Job opened his mouth to speak. He cursed the day he had been born. ² He said,

An Example From Marriage

7 Brothers and sisters, I am speaking to you who know the law. Don’t you know that the law has authority over someone only as long as they live? ² For example, by law a married woman remains married as long as her husband lives. But suppose her husband dies. Then the law that joins her to him no longer applies. ³ But suppose that married woman sleeps with another man while her husband is still alive. Then she is called a woman who commits adultery. But suppose her husband dies. Then she is free from that law. She is not guilty of adultery if she marries another man.

⁴ My brothers and sisters, when Christ died you also died as far as the law is concerned. Then it became possible for you to belong to him. He was raised from the dead. Now our lives can be useful to God. ⁵ The power of sin used to control us. The law stirred up sinful desires in us. So the things we did resulted in death. ⁶ But now we have died to what used to control us. We have been set free from the law. Now we serve in the new way of the Holy Spirit. We no longer serve in the old way of the written law.

The Law and Sin

⁷ What should we say then? That the law is sinful? Not at all! Yet I wouldn’t have known what sin was unless the law had told me. The law says, “Do not want what belongs to other people.” (Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21) If the law hadn’t said that, I would not have known what it was like to want what belongs to others. ⁸ But the commandment gave sin an opportunity. Sin caused me to want all kinds of things that belong to others. A person can’t sin by breaking a law if that law doesn’t exist. ⁹ Before I knew about the law, I was alive. But then the commandment came. Sin came to life, and I died. ¹⁰ I found that the commandment that was supposed to bring life actually brought death. ¹¹ When the commandment gave sin the opportunity, sin tricked me. It used the commandment to put me to death. ¹² So the law is holy. The commandment also is holy and right and good.

¹³ Did what is good cause me to die? Not at all! Sin had to be recognized for what it really is. So it used what is good to bring about my death. Because of the commandment, sin became totally sinful.

¹⁴ We know that the law is holy. But I am not. I have been sold to be a slave of sin. ¹⁵ I don’t understand what I do. I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate to do. ¹⁶ I do what I don’t want to do. So I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, I am no longer the one who does these things. It is sin living in me that does them. ¹⁸ I know there is nothing good in my desires controlled by sin. I want to do what is good, but I can’t. ¹⁹ I don’t do the good things I want to do. I keep on doing the evil things I don’t want to do. ²⁰ I do what I don’t want to do. But I am not really the one who is doing it. It is sin living in me that does it.

²¹ Here is the law I find working in me. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² Deep inside me I find joy in God’s law. ²³ But I see another law working in me. It fights against the law of my mind. It makes me a prisoner of the law of sin. That law controls me. ²⁴ What a terrible failure I am! Who will save me from this sin that brings death to my body? ²⁵ I give thanks to God who saves me. He saves me through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So in my mind I am a slave to God’s law. But sin controls my desires. So I am a slave to the law of sin.