Day 15 – January 15, 2022

Genesis 41, 42  

​¹ Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. ² Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine-looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. ³ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river. ⁴ But the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine-looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven ears of corn came up on one stalk, plump and good. ⁶ Then behold, seven ears of corn, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. ⁷ But the seven thin ears of corn devoured the seven plump and full ears. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream.
⁸ Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the interpreters of Egypt and all its wise men. Thus Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh. ⁹ Then the cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my sin this day. ¹⁰ When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the chief bodyguard, both myself and the chief baker, ¹¹ we each had a dream in one night, both he and I. Each had a dream regarding himself. ¹² Now there was with us a young Hebrew servant of the chief bodyguard, and we related our dreams to him; and he interpreted them for us. ¹³ And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, but he hanged him.”
¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Thus Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.” ¹⁶ So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river. ¹⁸ Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine-looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. ¹⁹ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows. ²¹ When they had eaten them, no one would have known they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke and fell asleep again. ²² Again, I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven ears of corn came up on one stalk, full and good. ²³ Then behold, seven ears of corn, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. ²⁴ But the thin ears of corn devoured the seven good ears. So I told all this to the interpreters, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears of corn are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷ But the seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. ²⁸ This is the thing I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Indeed, seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. ³¹ So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. ³² Now the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. ³³ Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a sensible and intelligent man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint governors over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. ³⁵ So let them gather all the food of the seven good years that are coming, and store up grain under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them keep food in the cities. ³⁶ That food shall then be as a reserve in the land for the seven coming years of famine in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.”

Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt

³⁷ Now this advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸ Thus Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a man as this, who has the Spirit of God in him?” ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as sensible and intelligent as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

  ⁴² Then Pharaoh took the signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ Then he had him ride in the second of his chariots; and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-Paaneah, and he gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On.

⁴⁶ Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Then Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly. ⁴⁸ So he gathered up all the food of the seven years of prosperity in the land of Egypt, and stored the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields that surrounded them. ⁴⁹ Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.

⁵⁰ Now two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph called the name of his firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my troubles and all my father’s house.” ⁵² And the name of the second he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my humiliation.”

⁵³ Then the seven years of plenty in the land of Egypt ended, ⁵⁴ and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶ The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. ⁵⁷ Then all countries also came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers Come to Egypt

​¹ When Jacob found out there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing idle?” ² Then he said, “Indeed, I heard there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.” ³ So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.”

⁵ Thus the sons of Israel went to buy grain with those who were going there, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. ⁶ Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. So Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.” ⁸ So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

  ⁹ Then Joseph remembered the dreams he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to map out the roads of the country.” ¹⁰ But they said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all one man’s sons; we are men of peace; your servants are not spies.” ¹² But he said to them, “No, but you have come to map out the roads of the land.” ¹³ Then they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.” ¹⁴ But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, namely, ‘You are spies!’ ¹⁵ In this manner you shall be manifested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” ¹⁷ So he put them all together in prison three days.

¹⁸ Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God. ¹⁹ If you are men of peace, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. ²⁰ But bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” So they did so. ²¹ Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” ²² Reuben then answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ but you would not listen? Therefore, behold, his blood is now required of us.” ²³ But they did not know Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.

²⁴ Then Joseph turned himself away from them and wept. So he returned to them again, and talked with them; and took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes. ²⁵ Joseph then gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them.

The Brothers Depart for Canaan

²⁶ So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. ²⁷ But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸ So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned to me, and there it is, in my sack.” Then their hearts failed them, and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this God has done to us?”

²⁹ Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that happened to them, saying, ³⁰ “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are men of peace; we are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this I will know you are men of peace: leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for your households, and be gone. ³⁴ Now, bring your youngest brother to me; then I shall know you are not spies, but men of peace. I will then grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’ ”

³⁵ Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ So Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more; Simeon is no more; and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.” ³⁷ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “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.” ³⁸ But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”

Psalms 17:33–51  

³³ It is God who girds me with power,

And He made my way blameless;

³⁴ Who makes my feet like a deer

And sets me on high places;

³⁵ Who teaches my hands to make war;

And You make my arms a bronze bow;

³⁶ And You gave me the shield of Your salvation;

And Your right hand supported me;

And Your instruction restored me to the end;

And Your instruction will teach me.

³⁷ You widened my steps under me,

And my footsteps were not feeble.

³⁸ I shall pursue my enemies and overtake them;

And I shall not turn back until they faint;

³⁹ I shall wound them until they cannot stand;

They shall fall under my feet.

⁴⁰ For You armed me with strength for war;

  You entangled under my feet all who rose up against me,

⁴¹ And You gave me the back of my enemies;

And You destroyed all who hate me.

⁴² They cried out, but there was none to save them;

Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

⁴³ I will grind them fine, like the dust that blows in the wind;

I will smooth them out, like mud in the streets.

⁴⁴ Deliver me from the contradictions of the people;

You will establish me as the head of the Gentiles;

A people I never knew served me;

⁴⁵ The moment they heard, they obeyed me;

Sons who are strangers lied to me;

⁴⁶ Sons who are strangers became old,

And they became lame because of their beaten path.

⁴⁷ The Lord lives, and blessed is my God.

Let the salvation of my God be exalted,

⁴⁸ The God who vindicates me,

And who subdued the peoples under me,

⁴⁹ My deliverer from the rage of my enemies;

Because of those who rise up against me, You will exalt me;

You will deliver me from the unrighteous man.

⁵⁰ Therefore I will give thanks to You among the Gentiles, O Lord,

And sing to Your name,

⁵¹ He who magnifies the salvation of His king

And shows mercy to His anointed,

To David and his seed forever.”

Proverbs 3:17–22  

¹⁷ For length of days and years of life are in her right hand,

And in her left hand are riches and glory;

¹⁸ Righteousness proceeds from her mouth,

And she carries law and mercy upon her tongue.

¹⁹ Her ways are good ways,

And all her paths are in peace.

²⁰ She is a tree of life for all who cleave to her,

And she is security for those who lean upon her as upon the Lord.

²¹ God by wisdom founded the earth

And prepared the heavens with discernment.

²² With perception the depths were broken up,

And the clouds flowed with dew.

Matthew 10:24–42

²⁴ “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

²⁵ “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!

²⁶ “Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

²⁷ “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.

²⁸ “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

²⁹ “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.

  ³⁰ “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

³¹ “Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

³² “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

³³ “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

³⁴ “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.

³⁵ “For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;

³⁶ “and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’

³⁷ “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

³⁸ “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

³⁹ “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

⁴⁰ “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.

⁴¹ “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.⁴² “And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”