Through the Bible – Day 16

Bible text(s)

Genesis 39

Joseph in Egypt

Joseph and Potiphar's wife

1The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the king's official in charge of the palace guard. 2-3So Joseph lived in the home of Potiphar, his Egyptian owner.

Soon Potiphar realized that the LORD was helping Joseph to be successful in whatever he did. 4Potiphar liked Joseph and made him his personal assistant, putting him in charge of his house and all his property. 5Because of Joseph, the LORD began to bless Potiphar's family and fields. 6Potiphar left everything up to Joseph, and with Joseph there, the only decision he had to make was what he wanted to eat.

Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7and Potiphar's wife soon noticed him. She asked him to make love to her, 8but he refused and said, “My master isn't worried about anything in his house, because he has placed me in charge of everything he owns. 9No one in my master's house is more important than I am. The only thing he hasn't given me is you, and that's because you are his wife. I won't sin against God by doing such a terrible thing as this.” 10She kept begging Joseph day after day, but he refused to do what she wanted or even to go near her.

11One day, Joseph went to Potiphar's house to do his work, and none of the other servants were there. 12Potiphar's wife grabbed hold of his coat and said, “Make love to me!” Joseph ran out of the house, leaving her hanging on to his coat.

13When this happened, 14she called in her servants and said, “Look! This Hebrew has come just to make fools of us. He tried to rape me, but I screamed for help. 15And when he heard me scream, he ran out of the house, leaving his coat with me.”

16Potiphar's wife kept Joseph's coat until her husband came home. 17Then she said, “That Hebrew slave of yours tried to rape me! 18But when I screamed for help, he left his coat and ran out of the house.”

19Potiphar became very angry 20and threw Joseph in the same prison where the king's prisoners were kept.

While Joseph was in prison, 21the LORD helped him and was good to him. He even made the jailer like Joseph so much that 22he put him in charge of the other prisoners and of everything that was done in the jail. 23The jailer did not worry about anything, because the LORD was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did.

Genesis 40

Joseph tells the meaning of the prisoners' dreams

1-3While Joseph was in prison, both the king's personal servant and his chief cook made the king angry. So he had them thrown into the same prison with Joseph. 4They spent a long time in prison, and Potiphar, the official in charge of the palace guard, made Joseph their servant.

5One night each of the two men had a dream, but their dreams had different meanings. 6The next morning, when Joseph went to see the men, he could tell they were upset, 7and he asked, “Why are you so worried today?”

8“We each had a dream last night,” they answered, “and there is no one to tell us what they mean.”

Joseph replied, “Doesn't God know the meaning of dreams? Now tell me what you dreamed.”

9The king's personal servant told Joseph, “In my dream I saw a vine 10with three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its grapes became ripe. 11I held the king's cup and squeezed the grapes into it, then I gave the cup to the king.”

12Joseph said:

This is the meaning of your dream. The three branches stand for three days, 13and in three days the king will pardon you. He will make you his personal servant again, and you will serve him his wine, just as you used to do. 14But when these good things happen, please don't forget to tell the king about me, so I can get out of this place. 15I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and here in Egypt I haven't done anything to deserve being thrown in jail.

16When the chief cook saw that Joseph had given a good meaning to the dream, he told Joseph, “I also had a dream. In it I was carrying three breadbaskets stacked on top of my head. 17The top basket was full of all kinds of baked things for the king, but birds were eating them.”

18Joseph said:

This is the meaning of your dream. The three baskets are three days, 19and in three days the king will cut off your head. He will hang your body on a pole, and birds will come and peck at it.

20Three days later, while the king was celebrating his birthday with a dinner for his officials, he sent for his personal servant and the chief cook. 21He put the personal servant back in his old job 22and had the cook put to death.

Everything happened just as Joseph had said it would, 23but the king's personal servant completely forgot about Joseph.

Genesis 41

Joseph interprets the king's dreams

1Two years later the king of Egypt dreamed he was standing beside the River Nile. 2Suddenly, seven fat, healthy cows came up from the river and started eating grass along the bank. 3Then seven ugly, skinny cows came up out of the river and 4ate the fat, healthy cows. When this happened, the king woke up.

5The king went back to sleep and had another dream. This time seven full heads of grain were growing on a single stalk. 6Later, seven other heads of grain appeared, but they were thin and scorched by the east wind. 7The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven full heads. Again the king woke up, and it had only been a dream.

8The next morning the king was upset. So he called in his magicians and wise men and told them what he had dreamed. None of them could tell him what the dreams meant.

9The king's personal servant said:

Now I remember what I was supposed to do. 10When you were angry with me and your chief cook, you threw us both in jail in the house of the captain of the guard. 11One night we both had dreams, and each dream had a different meaning. 12A young Hebrew, who was a servant of the captain of the guard, was there with us at the time. When we told him our dreams, he explained what each of them meant, 13and everything happened just as he said it would. I got my job back, and the cook was put to death.

14The king sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of jail. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to the king.

15The king said to him, “I had a dream, yet no one can explain what it means. I am told that you can interpret dreams.”

16“Your Majesty,” Joseph answered, “I can't do it myself, but God can give a good meaning to your dreams.”

17The king told Joseph:

I dreamed I was standing on the bank of the River Nile. 18I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river, and they began feeding on the grass. 19Next, seven skinny, bony cows came up out of the river. I have never seen such terrible looking cows anywhere in Egypt. 20The skinny cows ate the fat ones. 21But you couldn't tell it, because these skinny cows were just as skinny as they were before. Straight away, I woke up.

22I also dreamed that I saw seven heads of grain growing on one stalk. The heads were full and ripe. 23Then seven other heads of grain came up. They were thin and scorched by a wind from the desert. 24These heads of grain swallowed the full ones. I told my dreams to the magicians, but none of them could tell me the meaning of the dreams.

25Joseph replied:

Your Majesty, both of your dreams mean the same thing, and in them God has shown what he is going to do. 26The seven good cows stand for seven years, and so do the seven good heads of grain. 27The seven skinny, ugly cows that came up later also stand for seven years, as do the seven bad heads of grain that were scorched by the east wind. The dreams mean there will be seven years when there won't be enough grain.

28It is just as I said—God has shown what he intends to do. 29For seven years Egypt will have more than enough grain, 30but that will be followed by seven years when there won't be enough. The good years of plenty will be forgotten, and everywhere in Egypt people will be starving. 31The famine will be so bad that no one will remember that once there had been plenty. 32God has given you two dreams to let you know that he has definitely decided to do this and that he will do it soon.

33Your Majesty, you should find someone who is wise and will know what to do, so that you can put him in charge of all Egypt. 34Then appoint some other officials to collect one-fifth of every crop harvested in Egypt during the seven years when there is plenty. 35Give them the power to collect the grain during those good years and to store it in your cities. 36It can be stored until it is needed during the seven years when there won't be enough grain in Egypt. This will keep the country from being destroyed because of the lack of food.

Joseph is made governor over Egypt

37The king and his officials liked this plan. 38So the king said to them, “No one could possibly handle this better than Joseph, since the Spirit of God is with him.”

39The king told Joseph, “God is the one who has shown you these things. No one else is as wise as you are or knows as much as you do. 40I'm putting you in charge of my palace, and everybody will have to obey you. No one will be over you except me. 41You are now governor of all Egypt!”

42Then the king took off his royal ring and put it on Joseph's finger. He gave him fine clothes to wear and placed a gold chain around his neck. 43He also let him ride in the chariot next to his own, and people shouted, “Make way for Joseph!” So Joseph was governor of Egypt.

44The king told Joseph, “Although I'm king, no one in Egypt is to do anything without your permission.” 45He gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath Paneah. And he let him marry Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of Heliopolis. Joseph travelled all over Egypt.

46Joseph was thirty when the king made him governor, and he went everywhere for the king. 47For seven years there were big harvests of grain. 48Joseph collected and stored up the extra grain in the cities of Egypt near the fields where it was harvested. 49In fact, there was so much grain that they stopped keeping record, because it was like counting the grains of sand along the beach.

50Joseph and his wife had two sons before the famine began. 51Their first son was named Manasseh, which means, “God has let me forget all my troubles and my family back home.” 52His second son was named Ephraim, which means “God has made me a success in the land where I suffered.”

53Egypt's seven years of plenty came to an end, 54and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was not enough food in other countries, but all over Egypt there was plenty. 55When the famine finally struck Egypt, the people asked the king for food, but he said, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you to do.”

56The famine became bad everywhere in Egypt, so Joseph opened the storehouses and sold the grain to the Egyptians. 57People from all over the world came to Egypt, because the famine was severe in their countries.

Genesis 39:1-41:57CEVOpen in Bible reader

Matthew 11

John the Baptist

1After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he left and began teaching and preaching in the towns.

2John was in prison when he heard what Christ was doing. So John sent some of his followers 3to ask Jesus, “Are you the one we should be looking for? Or must we wait for someone else?”

4Jesus answered, “Go and tell John what you have heard and seen. 5The blind are now able to see, and the lame can walk. People with leprosy are being healed, and the deaf can hear. The dead are raised to life, and the poor are hearing the good news. 6God will bless everyone who doesn't reject me because of what I do.”

7As John's followers were going away, Jesus spoke to the crowds about John:

What sort of person did you go out into the desert to see? Was he like tall grass blown about by the wind? 8What kind of man did you go out to see? Was he someone dressed in fine clothes? People who dress like that live in the king's palace. 9What did you really go out to see? Was he a prophet? He certainly was. I tell you that he was more than a prophet. 10In the Scriptures God says about him, “I am sending my messenger ahead of you to get things ready for you.” 11I tell you that no one ever born on this earth is greater than John the Baptist. But whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.

12From the time of John the Baptist until now, violent people have been trying to take over the kingdom of heaven by force. 13All the Books of the Prophets and the Law of Moses told what was going to happen up to the time of John. 14And if you believe them, John is Elijah, the prophet you are waiting for. 15If you have ears, pay attention!

16You people are like children sitting in the market and shouting to each other,

17“We played the flute,

but you would not dance!

We sang a funeral song,

but you would not mourn!”

18John the Baptist did not go around eating and drinking, and you said, “That man has a demon in him!” 19But the Son of Man goes around eating and drinking, and you say, “That man eats and drinks too much! He is even a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet Wisdom is shown to be right by what it does.

The unbelieving towns

20In the towns where Jesus had performed most of his miracles, the people refused to turn to God. So Jesus was upset with them and said:

21You people of Chorazin are in for trouble! You people of Bethsaida are in for trouble too! If the miracles that took place in your towns had happened in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have turned to God long ago. They would have dressed in sackcloth and put ashes on their heads. 22I tell you that on the day of judgment the people of Tyre and Sidon will get off easier than you will.

23People of Capernaum, do you think you will be honoured in heaven? You will go down to hell! If the miracles that took place in your town had happened in Sodom, that town would still be standing. 24So I tell you that on the day of judgment the people of Sodom will get off easier than you.

Matthew 11:1-24CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.24.4
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