GENESIS 37:1- 38:30
MATTHEW 12:22- 45
PSALM 16:1- 11
PROVERBS 3:27- 32
So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived. 2 This is the history of Jacob's family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father's flocks with his half brothers, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. 3 Now Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day he gave Joseph a special gift-- a beautiful robe. 4 But his brothers hated Joseph because of their father's partiality. They couldn't say a kind word to him. 5 One night Joseph had a dream and promptly reported the details to his brothers, causing them to hate him even more. 6 "Listen to this dream," he announced. 7 "We were out in the field tying up bundles of grain. My bundle stood up, and then your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before it!" 8 "So you are going to be our king, are you?" his brothers taunted. And they hated him all the more for his dream and what he had said. 9 Then Joseph had another dream and told his brothers about it. "Listen to this dream," he said. "The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!" 10 This time he told his father as well as his brothers, and his father rebuked him. "What do you mean?" his father asked. "Will your mother, your brothers, and I actually come and bow before you?" 11 But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father gave it some thought and wondered what it all meant. 12 Soon after this, Joseph's brothers went to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem. 13 When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, "Your brothers are over at Shechem with the flocks. I'm going to send you to them." "I'm ready to go," Joseph replied. 14 "Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along," Jacob said. "Then come back and bring me word." So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from his home in the valley of Hebron. 15 When he arrived there, a man noticed him wandering around the countryside. "What are you looking for?" he asked. 16 "For my brothers and their flocks," Joseph replied. "Have you seen them?" 17 "Yes," the man told him, "but they are no longer here. I heard your brothers say they were going to Dothan." So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there. 18 When Joseph's brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance and made plans to kill him. 19 "Here comes that dreamer!" they exclaimed. 20 "Come on, let's kill him and throw him into a deep pit. We can tell our father that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we'll see what becomes of all his dreams!" 21 But Reuben came to Joseph's rescue. "Let's not kill him," he said. 22 "Why should we shed his blood? Let's just throw him alive into this pit here. That way he will die without our having to touch him." Reuben was secretly planning to help Joseph escape, and then he would bring him back to his father. 23 So when Joseph arrived, they pulled off his beautiful robe 24 and threw him into the pit. This pit was normally used to store water, but it was empty at the time. 25 Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they noticed a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking spices, balm, and myrrh from Gilead to Egypt. 26 Judah said to the others, "What can we gain by killing our brother? That would just give us a guilty conscience. 27 Let's sell Joseph to those Ishmaelite traders. Let's not be responsible for his death; after all, he is our brother!" And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the traders came by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver, and the Ishmaelite traders took him along to Egypt. 29 Sometime later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the pit. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in anguish and frustration. 30 Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, "The boy is gone! What can I do now?" 31 Then Joseph's brothers killed a goat and dipped the robe in its blood. 32 They took the beautiful robe to their father and asked him to identify it. "We found this in the field," they told him. "It's Joseph's robe, isn't it?" 33 Their father recognized it at once. "Yes," he said, "it is my son's robe. A wild animal has attacked and eaten him. Surely Joseph has been torn in pieces!" 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes and put on sackcloth. He mourned deeply for his son for many days. 35 His family all tried to comfort him, but it was no use. "I will die in mourning for my son," he would say, and then begin to weep. 36 Meanwhile, in Egypt, the traders sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard. 38:1 ABOUT this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he visited a man named Hirah. 2 There he met a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her. 3 She became pregnant and had a son, and Judah named the boy Er. 4 Then Judah's wife had another son, and she named him Onan. 5 And when she had a third son, she named him Shelah. At the time of Shelah's birth, they were living at Kezib. 6 When his oldest son, Er, grew up, Judah arranged his marriage to a young woman named Tamar. 7 But Er was a wicked man in the LORD's sight, so the LORD took his life. 8 Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, "You must marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. Her first son from you will be your brother's heir." 9 But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercourse with Tamar, he spilled the semen on the ground to keep her from having a baby who would belong to his brother. 10 But the LORD considered it a wicked thing for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So the LORD took Onan's life, too. 11 Then Judah told Tamar, his daughter- in- law, not to marry again at that time but to return to her parents 'home. She was to remain a widow until his youngest son, Shelah, was old enough to marry her. (But Judah didn't really intend to do this because he was afraid Shelah would also die, like his two brothers.) So Tamar went home to her parents. 12 In the course of time Judah's wife died. After the time of mourning was over, Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went to Timnah to supervise the shearing of his sheep. 13 Someone told Tamar that her father- in- law had left for the sheep- shearing at Timnah. 14 Tamar was aware that Shelah had grown up, but they had not called her to come and marry him. So she changed out of her widow's clothing and covered herself with a veil to disguise herself. Then she sat beside the road at the entrance to the village of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. 15 Judah noticed her as he went by and thought she was a prostitute, since her face was veiled. 16 So he stopped and propositioned her to sleep with him, not realizing that she was his own daughter- in- law. "How much will you pay me?" Tamar asked. 17 "I'll send you a young goat from my flock," Judah promised. "What pledge will you give me so I can be sure you will send it?" she asked. 18 "Well, what do you want?" he inquired. She replied, "I want your identification seal, your cord, and the walking stick you are carrying." So Judah gave these items to her. She then let him sleep with her, and she became pregnant. 19 Afterward she went home, took off her veil, and put on her widow's clothing as usual. 20 Judah asked his friend Hirah the Adullamite to take the young goat back to her and to pick up the pledges he had given her, but Hirah couldn't find her. 21 So he asked the men who lived there, "Where can I find the prostitute who was sitting beside the road at the entrance to the village?" "We've never had a prostitute here," they replied. 22 So Hirah returned to Judah and told him that he couldn't find her anywhere and that the men of the village had claimed they didn't have a prostitute there. 23 "Then let her keep the pledges!" Judah exclaimed. "We tried our best to send her the goat. We'd be the laughingstock of the village if we went back again." 24 About three months later, word reached Judah that Tamar, his daughter- in- law, was pregnant as a result of prostitution. "Bring her out and burn her!" Judah shouted. 25 But as they were taking her out to kill her, she sent this message to her father- in- law:"The man who owns this identification seal and walking stick is the father of my child. Do you recognize them?" 26 Judah admitted that they were his and said, "She is more in the right than I am, because I didn't keep my promise to let her marry my son Shelah." But Judah never slept with Tamar again. 27 In due season the time of Tamar's delivery arrived, and she had twin sons. 28 As they were being born, one of them reached out his hand, and the midwife tied a scarlet thread around the wrist of the child who appeared first, saying, "This one came out first." 29 But then he drew back his hand, and the other baby was actually the first to be born. "What!" the midwife exclaimed. "How did you break out first?" And ever after, he was called Perez. 30 Then the baby with the scarlet thread on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah.
Then a demon- possessed man, who was both blind and unable to talk, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. 23 The crowd was amazed. "Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?" they wondered out loud. 24 But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, "No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons." 25 Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, "Any kingdom at war with itself is doomed. A city or home divided against itself is doomed. 26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive. 27 And if I am empowered by the prince of demons, what about your own followers? They cast out demons, too, so they will judge you for what you have said. 28 But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 29 Let me illustrate this. You can't enter a strong man's house and rob him without first tying him up. Only then can his house be robbed! 30 Anyone who isn't helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me. 31" Every sin or blasphemy can be forgiven-- except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which can never be forgiven. 32 Anyone who blasphemes against me, the Son of Man, can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come. 33 "A tree is identified by its fruit. Make a tree good, and its fruit will be good. Make a tree bad, and its fruit will be bad. 34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. 36 And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned." 38 One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove that you are from God." 39 But Jesus replied, "Only an evil, faithless generation would ask for a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so I, the Son of Man, will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now someone greater than Jonah is here-- and you refuse to repent. 42 The queen of Sheba will also rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And now someone greater than Solomon is here-- and you refuse to listen to him. 43" When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44 Then it says, `I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and clean. 45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation. "
A psalm of David.
1 Keep me safe, O God,
for I have come to you for refuge.
2 I said to the LORD," You are my Master!
All the good things I have are from you. "
3 The godly people in the land
are my true heroes!
I take pleasure in them!
4 Those who chase after other gods will be filled with sorrow.
I will not take part in their sacrifices
or even speak the names of their gods.
5 LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
You guard all that is mine.
6 The land you have given me is a pleasant land.
What a wonderful inheritance!
7 I will bless the LORD who guides me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I know the LORD is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
9 No wonder my heart is filled with joy,
and my mouth shouts his praises!
My body rests in safety.
10 For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your godly one to rot in the grave.
11 You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it's in your power to help them. If you can help your neighbor now, don't say," Come back tomorrow, and then I'll help you. "Do not plot against your neighbors, for they trust you. Don't make accusations against someone who hasn't wronged you. Do not envy violent people; don't copy their ways. Such wicked people are an abomination to the LORD, but he offers his friendship to the godly
