Bible Readings for January 20, 2013

Today our passages are Genesis 41:17–42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-15; and Proverbs 4:1-6. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

Genesis 41:17-42:17 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁷The king told Joseph: I dreamed I was standing on the bank of the Nile River. 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. Right 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 ^[a] 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. ^[b] Joseph traveled 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 ^[c] in the land where I suffered." ^[d]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 42

Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt To Buy Grain

¹When Jacob found out there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why are you just sitting here, staring at one another? ²I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Now go down and buy some, so we won't starve to death." ³Ten of Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy grain. ⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph's younger brother Benjamin with them; he was afraid that something might happen to him. ⁵So Jacob's sons joined others from Canaan who were going to Egypt because of the terrible famine. ⁶Since Joseph was governor of Egypt and in charge of selling grain, his brothers came to him and bowed with their faces to the ground. ^7-8They did not recognize Joseph, but right away he knew who they were, though he pretended not to know. Instead, he spoke harshly and asked, "Where do you come from?" "From the land of Canaan," they answered. "We've come here to buy grain." ⁹Joseph remembered what he had dreamed about them and said, "You're spies! You've come here to find out where our country is weak." ¹⁰"No sir," they replied. "We're your servants, and we have only come to buy grain. ¹¹We're honest men, and we come from the same family--we're not spies." ¹²"That isn't so!" Joseph insisted. "You've come here to find out where our country is weak." ¹³But they explained, "Sir, we come from a family of twelve brothers. The youngest is still with our father in Canaan, and one of our brothers is dead." ¹⁴Joseph replied: It's just like I said. You're spies, ¹⁵and I'm going to find out who you really are. I swear by the life of the king that you won't leave this place until your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶Choose one of you to go after your brother, while the rest of you stay here in jail. That will show whether you are telling the truth. But if you are lying, I swear by the life of the king that you are spies! ¹⁷Joseph kept them all under guard for three days,

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 41:37the king: See the note at 12.15.
2. Genesis 41:45Heliopolis: The Hebrew text has "On," which is better known by its Greek name "Heliopolis."
3. Genesis 41:52God has made me a success: Or "God has given me children."
4. Genesis 41:52Ephraim. . . suffered: In Hebrew "Ephraim" actually means either "fertile land" or "pastureland."

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Matthew 13:24-46 (Contemporary English Version)

Weeds among the Wheat

²⁴Jesus then told them this story: The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a farmer scattered good seed in a field. ²⁵But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and scattered weed seeds in the field and then left. ²⁶When the plants came up and began to ripen, the farmer's servants could see the weeds. ²⁷The servants came and asked, "Sir, didn't you scatter good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?" ²⁸"An enemy did this," he replied. His servants then asked, "Do you want us to go out and pull up the weeds?" ²⁹"No!" he answered. "You might also pull up the wheat. ³⁰Leave the weeds alone until harvest time. Then I'll tell my workers to gather the weeds and tie them up and burn them. But I'll have them store the wheat in my barn."

Stories about a Mustard Seed and Yeast

(Mark 4.30-32; Luke 13.18-21)

³¹Jesus told them another story: The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field. ³²Although it is the smallest of all seeds, it grows larger than any garden plant and becomes a tree. Birds even come and nest on its branches. ³³Jesus also said: The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a woman mixes a little yeast into three big batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.

The Reason for Teaching with Stories

(Mark 4.33,34)

³⁴Jesus used stories when he spoke to the people. In fact, he did not tell them anything without using stories. ³⁵So God's promise came true, just as the prophet ^[a] had said, "I will use stories to speak my message and to explain things that have been hidden since the creation of the world."

Jesus Explains the Story about the Weeds

³⁶After Jesus left the crowd and went inside, ^[b] his disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the story about the weeds in the wheat field." ³⁷Jesus answered: The one who scattered the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸The field is the world, and the good seeds are the people who belong to the kingdom. The weed seeds are those who belong to the evil one, ³⁹and the one who scattered them is the devil. The harvest is the end of time, and angels are the ones who bring in the harvest. ⁴⁰Weeds are gathered and burned. That's how it will be at the end of time. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everyone who does wrong or causes others to sin. ⁴²Then he will throw them into a flaming furnace, where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. ⁴³But everyone who has done right will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. If you have ears, pay attention!

A Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when someone finds a treasure hidden in a field and buries it again. A person like that is happy and goes and sells everything in order to buy that field.

A Valuable Pearl

⁴⁵The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a shop owner is looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶After finding a very valuable one, the owner goes and sells everything in order to buy that pearl.

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 13:35the prophet: Some manuscripts have "the prophet Isaiah."
2. Matthew 13:36went inside: Or "went home."

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Psalm 18:1-15 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 18

(For the music leader. A psalm by David, the LORD's servant. David sang this to the LORD after the LORD had rescued him from his enemies, but especially from Saul.)

David's Song of Thanks

¹I love you, LORD God, and you make me strong. ²You are my mighty rock, ^[a] my fortress, my protector, the rock where I am safe, my shield, my powerful weapon, ^[b] and my place of shelter. ³I praise you, LORD! I prayed, and you rescued me from my enemies. ⁴Death had wrapped its ropes around me, and I was almost swallowed by its flooding waters. ⁵Ropes from the world of the dead had coiled around me, and death had set a trap in my path. ⁶I was in terrible trouble when I called out to you, but from your temple you heard me and answered my prayer. ⁷The earth shook and shivered, and the mountains trembled down to their roots. You were angry ⁸and breathed out smoke. Scorching heat and fiery flames spewed from your mouth. ⁹You opened the heavens like curtains, and you came down with storm clouds under your feet. ¹⁰You rode on the backs of flying creatures and swooped down with the wind as wings. ¹¹Darkness was your robe; thunderclouds filled the sky, hiding you from sight. ¹²Hailstones and fiery coals lit up the sky in front of you. ¹³LORD Most High, your voice thundered from the heavens, as hailstones and fiery coals poured down like rain. ¹⁴You scattered your enemies with arrows of lightning. ¹⁵You roared at the sea, and its deepest channels could be seen. You snorted, and the earth shook to its foundations.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 18:2mighty rock: The Hebrew text has " rock," which is sometimes used in poetry to compare the Lord to a mountain where his people can run for protection from their enemies.
2. Psalm 18:2my powerful weapon: The Hebrew text has " the horn," which refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Palestine.

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Proverbs 4:1-6 (Contemporary English Version)

Proverbs 4

Advice to Young People

¹My child, listen closely to my teachings and learn common sense. ²My advice is useful, so don't turn away. ³When I was still very young and my mother's favorite child, my father ⁴said to me: "If you follow my teachings and keep them in mind, you will live. ⁵Be wise and learn good sense; remember my teachings and do what I say. ⁶If you love Wisdom and don't reject her, she will watch over you.

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Verse of the Day

“[Faith and Wisdom]My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested.” - James 1:2-3

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

Empress of Russia Catherine II wrote, “I beg you take courage; the brave soul can mend even disaster.”