Genesis chapter 41 Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams. After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly thin cows ate up the seven attractive plump cows, and Pharaoh awoke, and he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk, and behold after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump full ears, and Pharaoh awoke, and behold it was a dream. So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he set and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh. Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, I remember my offenses today. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted to us, so it came about, I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged. Then Pharaoh set and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. When Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it. Joseph answered Pharaoh, it is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, behold, in my dream, I was standing on the banks of the Nile. Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. One other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows. But when they had eaten them, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as the beginning. Then I awoke. I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. Seven ears withered, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me. Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, the dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years. The dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years. And the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years, and let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming in store-up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt so that the land may not perish through famine. Joseph rises to power. This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants, and Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find a man like this, and whom is the spirit of God? Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot, and they called out before him, Bow the knee. Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zathnath Paihania. And he gave him in marriage Asenith, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of An. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, and he gathered up all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it, and Joseph stored up grain and great abundance like the sand of the sea until he seized to measure it for it could not be measured. Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenith, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of An, bore them to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, for he said, God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house. The name of the second he called Ephraim, for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph, what he says to you, do. So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. For the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe all over the earth. Genesis chapter 42. Joseph's brothers go to Egypt. When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, Why do you look at one another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die. So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land, and Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them. But he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. Where do you come from? He said. They said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, You are spies. You have come to see the nakedness of the land. They said to him, No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies. He said to them, No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see. And they said, We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. And behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more. But Joseph said to them, It is as I said to you. You are spies. By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you and let him bring your brother while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you or else by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies. And he put them all together in custody for three days. On the third day, Joseph said to them, Do this and you will live, for I fear God. If you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be verified and you shall not die. And they did so. Then they said to one another, In truth we are guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the distress of his soul. When he begged us and we did not listen, that is why this distress has come upon us. And Reuben answered them, Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy, but you did not listen, so now there comes a reckoning for his blood. They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept, and he returned to them and spoke to them, and he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes, and Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to replace every man's money in his sack and to give them provisions for their journey. This was done for them. Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed, and as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. He said to his brothers, My money has been put back, here it is in the mouth of my sack. At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another saying, What is this that God has done to us? When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, The man, the Lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land, but we said to him, We are honest men, we have never been spies, we are twelve brothers, sons of our father, one is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. Then the man, the Lord of the land, said to us, By this I shall know that you are honest men, leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households and go your way. Bring your youngest brother to me, then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land. As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack, and when they and their father saw their bundles of money they were afraid. And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me of my children, Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin? All this has come against me. When Ruben said to his father, Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you, put him in my hands and I will bring him back to you. But he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to she all. Matthew 14 verses 22-36 Jesus walks on the water. Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds, and after he had dismissed the crowds he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them, and in the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost, and they cried out in fear, but immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus, but when he saw the wind he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, Lord save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him saying to him, Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind seized, and those in the boat worshipped him saying, Truly you are the Son of God. Jesus heals the sick in Ganeseret, and when they had crossed over, they came to land at Ganeseret, and when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment, and as many as touched it were made well. Matthew chapter 15 verses 1 through 9, traditions and commandments. Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders, for they do not wash their hands when they eat? He answered them, and why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say, if anyone tells his father or his mother what you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father. So for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and vain do they worship me, teaching his doctrines the commandments of men. Psalm chapter 17 verses 1 through 5, In the shadow of your wings, hear a just cause, O Lord, attend to my cry, Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit, From your presence let my vindication come, Let your eyes behold the right, You have tried my heart, You have visited me by night, You have tested me, And you will find nothing. I have proposed that my mouth will not transgress, With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips, I have avoided the ways of the violent, My steps have held fast to your paths, My feet have not slipped.
