Jan 21st

And he said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had:

Indeed, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf rose up and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

Then his brothers said to him, “Are you really going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Then he had still another dream and recounted it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

And he recounted it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers really come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?”

And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem.

And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “I will go.”

Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “What are you seeking?”

And he said, “I am seeking my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.”

Then the man said, “They have journeyed from here; for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

And they saw him from a distance, and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.

Then they said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer!

So now, come and let us kill him and cast him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!”

But Reuben heard this and delivered him out of their hands and said, “Let us not strike down his life.”

Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not put forth your hands against him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands to return him to his father.

Now it happened, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;

and they took him and cast him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted up their eyes and saw, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, going to bring them down to Egypt.

And Judah said to his brothers, “What gain is it that we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened.

Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Then Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments.

Then he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?”

So they took Joseph’s tunic and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood;

and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please recognize it—whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”

And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”

So Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.

Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

Now it happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her and went in to her.

So she conceived and bore a son, and he named him Er.

Then she conceived again and bore a son, and she named him Onan.

And she bore still another son, and she named him Shelah; and it was at Chezib that she bore him.

Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of Yahweh, so Yahweh put him to death.

Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a seed for your brother.”

And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it happened that when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted it on the ground in order not to give seed to his brother.

But what he did was displeasing in the sight of Yahweh; so He put him to death also.

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he thought, “I am afraid lest he also die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

And after a considerable time, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Then Judah was comforted, and he went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

Then it was told to Tamar, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”

So she removed her widow’s garments from herself and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself. And she sat at the entrance of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife.

Then Judah saw her, and he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face.

So he turned aside to her by the road and said, “Here now, let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

He said, therefore, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” She said, moreover, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?”

Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

Then she arose and went. And she removed her veil from herself and put on her widow’s garments.

Then Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.

So he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the cult prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?” But they said, “There has been no cult prostitute here.”

So he returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her; and furthermore, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’ ”

Then Judah said, “Let her keep them, lest we become a laughingstock. Behold, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

Now it happened about three months later that it was told to Judah saying, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot, and behold, she is also with child by harlotry.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”

It was while she was being brought out that she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am with child by the man to whom these things belong.” And she said, “Please recognize this and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?”

And Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.

And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

And the disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

And He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground;

and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and kept giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.

And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.

But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’

And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?

An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

And coming to the other side of the sea, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread.

And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Now they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring bread.”

But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?

Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?

Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up?

How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.