Old/New Testament

Joseph in Egypt

39 The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt and they sold him there as a slave. Potiphar bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites. He was one of Pharaoh's officers. He had authority over all the guards. ² The Lord was with Joseph, so that good things happened to him. Joseph lived in the house of Potiphar, his Egyptian master. ³ Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph. He saw that the Lord helped Joseph to do good work. ⁴ So Joseph pleased Potiphar. Potiphar gave Joseph authority as his special servant. Joseph took care of everything that belonged to Potiphar. ⁵ From the time that Potiphar gave Joseph authority over everything in his house, the Lord blessed the people of Potiphar's house, his animals and his crops. The Lord blessed Potiphar because of Joseph.

⁶ So Potiphar told Joseph to take care of everything that belonged to him. Potiphar did not worry about anything in his house. The only thing that he thought about was the food that he ate.

Joseph was a strong and handsome man. ⁷ After some time had passed, Potiphar's wife saw that Joseph was handsome. She said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ ⁸ But Joseph refused to do that. He said, ‘My master does not need to think about anything in the house. I take care of everything that belongs to him. ⁹ No one has more authority in this house than I do. My master keeps nothing from me, except you. That is because you are his wife. I could not do such a bad thing. I could not do a sin that is against God.’

¹⁰ Potiphar's wife continued to speak to Joseph every day. But he would not agree to go to bed with her. He would not even go near her. ¹¹ One day Joseph went into the house to do his work. None of the other servants were there in the house. ¹² Potiphar's wife suddenly took hold of Joseph's coat. She said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ Joseph left his coat in her hand and he ran out of the house.

¹³ Potiphar's wife saw that Joseph had left his coat in her hand. She saw that he had run out of the house. ¹⁴ So she called her servants to come. She said to them, ‘Look at this! The Hebrew man that Potiphar brought to work here does not respect us! He came in here and he tried to have sex with me. But I screamed loudly. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream like that, he ran out of the house. But he left his coat here with me.’

¹⁶ Potiphar's wife kept the coat beside her until Joseph's master, Potiphar, came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him this story: ‘The Hebrew slave that you brought to us tried to insult me. He wanted to sleep with me. ¹⁸ But I screamed loudly for help. So he left his coat with me and he ran out of the house.’

¹⁹ Joseph's master heard the story that his wife told him. She said, ‘This is what your slave did to me.’ When Potiphar heard that, he was very angry. ²⁰ He took hold of Joseph, and he put him in prison. It was the place where the king put his own prisoners. ²¹ While Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was still with him. He was kind to Joseph. He caused the leader of the prison guards to like Joseph. ²² So this man gave Joseph authority over all the other prisoners. Joseph was responsible for everything that they did in the prison. ²³ The prison guard did not worry about anything that Joseph had authority over. He saw that the Lord was with Joseph. Whatever Joseph did, the Lord helped him to do it well.

Joseph tells two people what their dreams mean

40 Some time later, two of the king's officers made him angry. One of them was the king's cupbearer.^[a] The other was the king's baker.

² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, both the cupbearer and the baker. ³ Pharaoh put them in the same prison that Joseph was in. That was in the house of the captain of the king's guards. ⁴ They were in the prison for a long time. The captain of the guards made Joseph their servant, to help them. ⁵ One night, both of the king's officers had a dream. Each dream had its own meaning.

⁶ When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were upset. ⁷ So Joseph asked the two officers, ‘What are you sad about?’ ⁸ They replied, ‘We both had dreams last night, but there is nobody to tell us what they mean.’ Joseph said, ‘Only God can tell you the meaning of dreams. Tell your dreams to me.’

⁹ So the king's cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said, ‘In my dream I saw a vine in front of me. ¹⁰ There were three branches on it. New leaves came on the branches, and then flowers came. After that, there were grapes which became ripe. ¹¹ Pharaoh's cup was in my hand. I took the grapes and I squeezed them. Then I put the juice into the cup and I gave the cup to Pharaoh.’

¹² Joseph said, ‘This is what your dream means. The three branches tell us about three days. ¹³ In three days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and he will make you his officer again.^[b] You will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand, as you did before. ¹⁴ But when these good things happen to you, remember to be kind to me. Tell Pharaoh about me so that I will get out of this prison. ¹⁵ Men took hold of me in the land of the Hebrews and they brought me here. Even here, I have not done anything wrong. I should not be in this prison.’

¹⁶ The king's baker heard what Joseph had said to the cupbearer. He realized that the meaning of the cupbearer's dream was good. So he said to Joseph, ‘This was my dream: I had three baskets of bread on my head. ¹⁷ The top basket contained many different kinds of bread for Pharaoh. But birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.’

¹⁸ Joseph said, ‘This is what your dream means. The three baskets tell us about three days. ¹⁹ In three days, Pharaoh will lift off your head. He will hang you on a tree. Then birds will eat the meat off your body.’

²⁰ Three days later, it was Pharaoh's birthday. He gave a feast for all his officers. He lifted up the head of the cupbearer and he lifted off the head of the baker! He brought them both out of the prison so that all his officers could see.

²¹ Pharaoh caused the cupbearer to be his own cupbearer again. As a result, the cupbearer put Pharaoh's cup into his hand again, as he did before. ²² But Pharaoh hanged the baker to kill him.

So it all happened in the way that Joseph said it would happen. ²³ But the cupbearer did not think about Joseph at all. He completely forgot about him.

Jesus talks about John the Baptist

11 Jesus taught all these things to his 12 disciples. After he had finished, he went away from that place. He went to the towns near there to teach his message to people.

² At that time, John the Baptist was in prison. But people told him about all the things that Jesus the Messiah was doing. So John sent some of his own disciples to ask Jesus some questions.^{[a] 3} They said to him, ‘John the Baptist wants to know this: Are you the special person that God has promised to send to us? If not, should we still look for someone else?’

⁴ Jesus replied, ‘Go back to John. Tell him what you have been hearing. Also, tell him what you have been seeing. ⁵ Blind people can now see again. People who could not walk can now walk again. People who had a bad disease of the skin are now well again. Deaf people can now hear again. People who had died now live again. Poor people are hearing God's good news. ⁶ If anyone believes in me and does not turn away, he will be really happy.’

⁷ John's disciples went away again. Jesus spoke to the crowd about John. He said to them, ‘You went out to the wilderness. What did you go there to see? Was it a tall piece of grass which the wind was blowing this way and that? No, you did not go to see that. ⁸ Did you go to see a man who was wearing expensive clothes? No! People like that do not live in the wilderness. They live in kings' great houses. ⁹ So what did you go to see? Did you go to see a prophet sent by God? Yes! But I tell you, John was even more important than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is what someone wrote about him a long time ago in the Bible. God said:

¹¹ Jesus then said, ‘I tell you this: John the Baptist is greater than any person who has ever lived until now. But now, anyone who belongs in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. Even the least important of them is greater than he is.^{[c] 12} From the time that John the Baptist began to teach until now, the kingdom of heaven is becoming very strong. Strong people are trying very much to attack it. ¹³ All the prophets and the books of the Law spoke God's message until the time that John the Baptist came. ¹⁴ The prophets wrote about Elijah. They said he would come again, to prepare for the Messiah. They were writing about John, and you should believe their message. ¹⁵ You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’

¹⁶ Jesus said, ‘I will talk to you about the people who are alive today. They are like children who are sitting in the market place. They are playing games and they shout to other children,

¹⁸ People today are like those children. John the Baptist did not eat ordinary food. He never drank wine. So people say that he has a bad spirit in him. ¹⁹ Then I, the Son of Man, came. I eat meals with other people and I drink wine. So people say about me, “Look at him! He eats too much and he drinks too much. He is a friend of bad people and men who take taxes from people.” God is wise. The good things that he does show that he is right.’^[d]

²⁰ In some of the cities Jesus had done many powerful things. But some people in those cities did not want to stop doing wrong things. They did not want to change how they lived. So Jesus spoke against those people. ²¹ He said to them, ‘You people in Chorazin, it will be very bad for you! And it will be very bad for you, people in Bethsaida. I have done great and powerful things in your cities. If I had done such great things in Tyre and in Sidon, the people there would have changed how they lived. They would have shown they were sorry for their sins. They would have put on clothes made from goat's hair. They would also have put ashes on their heads. ²² Yes, when God judges everyone, he will punish the people from Tyre and Sidon. But he will punish much more you people from Chorazin and Bethsaida. ²³ And what will happen to you people in Capernaum? You think that God will lift you up to heaven, do you? No! He will throw you down to Hades, the place for dead people. I did powerful things in your town. If I had done these powerful things in Sodom, it would still be there today. ²⁴ I tell you this. When God judges everyone, he will punish the people from Sodom. But he will punish you people much more!’^[e]

²⁵ At this moment, Jesus said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! People who do not know many things can now understand your message. And so I thank you. But you have hidden these things from some other people. Those people think that they understand everything. They think that they are wise. ²⁶ Yes, Father, this is how you wanted it to happen.

²⁷ My Father has given me authority over all things. Only the Father really knows me, his Son. Only I really know my Father, because I am his Son. I also choose to tell some people about him. Then they also know him.

²⁸ Come to me all of you who are tired. You are like people who have worked for a long time. You are like people who have carried heavy things. Come to me. If you do that, you will find a place to rest. ²⁹ Do what I teach you to do. Listen to my message and learn from me what is true. I am very kind and I do not make myself important. I will help you. Then you will have peace in your mind. ³⁰ I will not tell you to do things that are too difficult. I will not tell you to carry anything that is too heavy for you.’