Old/New Testament
Chapter 39
Joseph’s Temptation. 1 When Joseph was taken down to Egypt, an Egyptian, Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and his chief steward, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. 2 (A)The Lord was with Joseph and he enjoyed great success and was assigned to the household of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and brought him success in whatever he did, 4 he favored Joseph and made him his personal attendant; he put him in charge of his household and entrusted to him all his possessions.(B) 5 From the moment that he put him in charge of his household and all his possessions, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the Lord’s blessing was on everything he owned, both inside the house and out. 6 Having left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge, he gave no thought, with Joseph there, to anything but the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. 7 After a time, his master’s wife looked at him with longing and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, as long as I am here, my master does not give a thought to anything in the house, but has entrusted to me all he owns. 9 He has no more authority in this house than I do. He has withheld from me nothing but you, since you are his wife. How, then, could I do this great wrong and sin against God?” 10 Although she spoke to him day after day, he would not agree to lie with her, or even be near her.(C)
11 One such day, when Joseph came into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were then in the house, 12 she laid hold of him by his cloak, saying, “Lie with me!” But leaving the cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand as he escaped outside, 14 she cried out to her household servants and told them, “Look! My husband has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us! He came in here to lie with me, but I cried out loudly. 15 When he heard me scream, he left his cloak beside me and escaped and ran outside.”
16 She kept the cloak with her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave whom you brought us came to me to amuse himself at my expense. 18 But when I screamed, he left his cloak beside me and escaped outside.” 19 When the master heard his wife’s story in which she reported, “Thus and so your servant did to me,” he became enraged. 20 Joseph’s master seized him and put him into the jail where the king’s prisoners were confined.(D) And there he sat, in jail.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him kindness by making the chief jailer well-disposed toward him.(E) 22 The chief jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners in the jail. Everything that had to be done there, he was the one to do it. 23 The chief jailer did not have to look after anything that was in Joseph’s charge, since the Lord was with him and was bringing success to whatever he was doing.
Chapter 40
The Dreams Interpreted. 1 [a]Some time afterward, the royal cupbearer and baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and he put them in custody in the house of the chief steward, the same jail where Joseph was confined. 4 The chief steward assigned Joseph to them, and he became their attendant.
After they had been in custody for some time, 5 the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt who were confined in the jail both had dreams on the same night, each his own dream and each dream with its own meaning. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked disturbed. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why do you look so troubled today?” 8 They answered him, “We have had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph said to them, “Do interpretations not come from God? Please tell me the dreams.”(F)
9 Then the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. “In my dream,” he said, “I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. It had barely budded when its blossoms came out, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes, pressed them out into his cup, and put it in Pharaoh’s hand.” 12 Joseph said to him: “This is its interpretation. The three branches are three days; 13 within three days Pharaoh will single you out[b] and restore you to your post. You will be handing Pharaoh his cup as you formerly did when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only think of me when all is well with you, and please do me the great favor of mentioning me to Pharaoh, to get me out of this place. 15 The truth is that I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and I have not done anything here that they should have put me into a dungeon.”
16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to him: “I too had a dream. In it I had three bread baskets on my head; 17 in the top one were all kinds of bakery products for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 18 Joseph said to him in reply: “This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days; 19 within three days Pharaoh will single you out and will impale you on a stake, and the birds will be eating your flesh.”
20 And so on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, when he gave a banquet to all his servants, he singled out the chief cupbearer and chief baker in the midst of his servants. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, so that he again handed the cup to Pharaoh; 22 but the chief baker he impaled—just as Joseph had told them in his interpretation. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not think of Joseph; he forgot him.
Chapter 11
1 When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve disciples,[a] he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.
IV. Opposition from Israel
The Messengers from John the Baptist. 2 [b](A)When John heard in prison[c] of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to him 3 [d]with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” 4 Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 [e]the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.(B) 6 And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
Jesus’ Testimony to John.[f] 7 As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?(C) 8 Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. 9 Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?[g] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.’(D)
11 Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.[h] 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,[i] and the violent are taking it by force.(E) 13 All the prophets and the law[j] prophesied up to the time of John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.(F) 15 Whoever has ears ought to hear.
16 (G)“To what shall I compare this generation?[k] It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, 17 ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’(H) 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”(I)
Reproaches to Unrepentant Towns. 20 (J)Then he began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon,[l] they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.(K) 22 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 [m]And as for you, Capernaum:
‘Will you be exalted to heaven?(L)
You will go down to the netherworld.’
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”(M)
The Praise of the Father. 25 (N)At that time Jesus said in reply,[n] “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.(O)
The Gentle Mastery of Christ. 28 [o]“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,[p] and I will give you rest. 29 [q](P)Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.