A reading from the Book of Genesis. Jacob lived in the land of his father's souljournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pastoring the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, Hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf. His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us, or are you indeed to rule over us, so they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers and said, Behold I have dreamed another dream, behold the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me. But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you? And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here I am. So he said to him, Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock and bring me word. So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a man found him wandering in the fields, and the man asked him, What are you seeking? I am seeking my brothers, he said. Tell me please where they are pasturing the flock. And the man said, They have gone away for I heard them say, Let's go to Dothan. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal had devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams. But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands saying, Let us not take his life. And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood, throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him. That he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore, and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty, there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat, and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, Would profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh. And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traitors passed by, and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes, and returned to his brothers and said, The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go? Then they took Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood, and they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, This we have found, please identify whether it is your son's robe or not. And he identified it and said, It is my son's robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces. Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him. But he refused to be comforted and said, No, I shall go down to sheath. She owed to my son, mourning. Thus his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard. It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adilomite, whose name was Hyra. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went into her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Ur. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Sheela. Judah was in Kezab when she bore him. And Judah took a wife for Ur, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Ur, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, Go into your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother. But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he went into his brother's wife, he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father's house till Sheela my son grows up, for he feared that he would die like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father's house. In the course of time, the wife of Judah, she was daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timna to his sheep shears, he and his friend Hyra, the Adelomite. And when Tamar was told, your father-in-law is going up to Timna to shear his sheep, she took off her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance of Ineam, which is on the road to Timna, for she saw that Sheela was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He turned to her at the roadside and said, Come, let me come into you. For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, What will you give me that you may come into me? He answered, I will send you a young goat from the flock. And she said, If you give me a pledge until you send it. He said, What pledge shall I give you? She replied, You're signet, and you're cord, and you're staff, that is in your hand. So he gave them to her, and went into her, and she conceived by him. Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil, she put on the garments of her widowhood. When Judah sent the young goat by his friend, the Adelomite, to take back the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her. And he asked the men of the place, Where is the cult prostitute who was at Ineam at the roadside? And they said, No cult prostitute has been here. So he returned to Judah and said, I have not found her. Also the men of the place said, No cult prostitute has been here. And Judah replied, Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her. About three months later, Judah was told, Teh-Mahir daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality. Then Judah said, Bring her out and let her be burned. As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, by the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant. And she said, Please identify who these are, the signet and the cord and the staff. Then Judah identified them and said, She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Sheila, and he did not know her again. From the time of her labor came, they were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, This one came out first. But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, What a breach you have made for yourself. Therefore his name was called Pires. Afterward, his brother came out with a scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zira. A reading from the book of Psalms. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned, and keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. O Lord my rock and my redeemer. A reading of the Gospel according to Matthew. Jesus left the temple and was going away. When his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple, but he answered them, You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered them, See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place. But the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death. And you will be hated by all nations for my namesake. And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. And let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant, and for those who are nursing infants in those days. Pray that your flight may not be in winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now. No, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. And for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or there he is. Do not believe it, for false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, look, he is in the wilderness, do not go out. If they say, look, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. From the fig tree learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also when you see all these things, you know that he is near at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Even in earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. When two men will be in the fields, one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the meal, one will be taken and one left. Therefore stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the Master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake, and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour you do not expect. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his Master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his Master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, my Master is delayed, and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the Master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the hypocrites, and that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
