Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.^{(A) 2} The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master.^{(B) 3} His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands.^{(C) 4} So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.^{(D) 5} From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field.^{(E) 6} So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and with him there he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. ⁷ And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”^{(F) 8} But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. ⁹ He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”^{(G) 10} And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. ¹¹ One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, ¹² she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and ran outside.^{(H) 13} When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, ¹⁴ she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband^[a] has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice, ¹⁵ and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.” ¹⁶ Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, ¹⁷ and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me,^{(I) 18} but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged.^{(J) 20} And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison.^{(K) 21} But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.^{(L) 22} The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.^{(M) 23} The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care because the Lord was with him, and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.^(N)

The Dreams of Two Prisoners

40 Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.^{(O) 2} Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³ and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.^{(P) 4} The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he waited on them, and they continued for some time in custody. ⁵ One night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt who were confined in the prison—each his own dream and each dream with its own meaning. ⁶ When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” ⁸ They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”^(Q)

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰ and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out, and the clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” ¹² Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days;^{(R) 13} within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ But remember me when it is well with you; please do me the kindness to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this place.^{(S) 15} For in fact I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”^(T)

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, ¹⁷ and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸ And Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;^{(U) 19} within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a pole, and the birds will eat the flesh from you.”^(V)

²⁰ On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.^{(W) 21} He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand,^{(X) 22} but the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.^{(Y) 23} Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph but forgot him.

11 Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.

Messengers from John the Baptist

² When John heard in prison what the Messiah^[a] was doing, he sent word by his^[b] disciples^{(A) 3} and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”^{(B) 4} Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.^{(C) 6} And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”^(D)

Jesus Praises John the Baptist

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?^{(E) 8} What, then, did you go out to see? Someone^[c] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. ⁹ What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet?^[d] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.^{(F) 10} This is the one about whom it is written,

¹¹ “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,^[e] and violent people take it by force.^{(H) 13} For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John came, ¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.^{(I) 15} Let anyone with ears^[f] listen!^(J)

¹⁶ “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

¹⁸ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; ¹⁹ the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”^[g](K)

Woes to Unrepentant Cities

²⁰ Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done because they did not repent. ²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.^{(L) 22} But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.^{(M) 23} And you, Capernaum,

“For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.^{(N) 24} But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”^(O)

Jesus Thanks His Father

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I thank^[h] you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;^{(P) 26} yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.^{[i] 27} All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.^(Q)

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.^{(R) 29} Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.^{(S) 30} For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”