Bible Reading Plan

Joseph's Success in Egypt

¹ Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him ^(F1)from the ^(C1)Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.² And ^(C1)the LORD was with Joseph, so he became a ^(F1)successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.³ Now his master ^(C1)saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD ^(C2)made all that he did prosper in his hand.⁴ So Joseph ^(C1)found favor in his sight and ^(F1)became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and ^(F2)put him in charge of ^(C2)all that he owned.⁵ It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD ^(C1)blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph; so ^(C2)the LORD'S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.

⁶ So he left ^(F1)Joseph in charge of everything that he owned; and with him there he did not ^(F2)concern himself with anything except the ^(F3)food which he ^(F4)ate. Now Joseph was ^(C1)handsome in form and appearance.⁷ And it came about after these events ^(C1)that his master's wife ^(F1)had her eyes on Joseph, and she said, "^(C2)Sleep with me."⁸ But ^(C1)he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master ^(F1)does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has ^(F2)put me in charge of all that he owns.⁹ "^(F1)(C1)There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and ^(C2)sin against God?"¹⁰ Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.¹¹ Now it happened ^(F1)one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the household was there inside.¹² So she grabbed him by his garment, saying, "Sleep with me!" But he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.^13 (F1)When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,¹⁴ she called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has brought in a ^(F1)Hebrew to us to make fun of us; he came in to me to sleep with me, and I ^(F2)screamed.¹⁵ "When he heard that I raised my voice and ^(F1)screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside."¹⁶ So she ^(F1)left his garment beside her until his master came home.¹⁷ Then she ^(C1)spoke to him ^(F1)with these ^(F2)words: "The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make fun of me;¹⁸ but when I raised my voice and ^(F1)screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside."

Joseph Imprisoned

¹⁹ Now when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, "^(F1)This is what your slave did to me," ^(C1)his anger burned.²⁰ So Joseph's master took him and ^(C1)put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; and he was there in the prison.²¹ But ^(C1)the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and ^(C2)gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison.²² And the warden of the prison ^(F1)(C1)put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was ^(F2)responsible for it.^23 (C1)The warden of the prison did not supervise anything ^(F1)under Joseph's authority, because ^(C2)the LORD was with him; and, ^(C3)the LORD made whatever he did prosper.

Chapter 21

^23 (C1)When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ^(C2)while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?"²⁴ But Jesus responded and said to them, "I will also ask you one ^(F1)question, which, if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.²⁵ "The baptism of John was from what source: from heaven or from men?" And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?'²⁶ "But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the ^(F1)people; for they all regard John as ^(C1)a prophet."²⁷ And answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know." He also said to them, "Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸ "But what do you think? A man had two ^(F1)sons, and he came to the first and said, '^(F2)Son, go work today in the ^(C1)vineyard.'²⁹ "But he replied, 'I do not want to.' Yet afterward he regretted it and went.³⁰ "And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, 'I will, sir'; and yet he did not go.³¹ "Which of the two did the will of his father?" They ^(*)said, "The first." Jesus ^(*)said to them, "Truly I say to you that ^(C1)the tax collectors and prostitutes ^(F1)will get into the kingdom of God before you.³² "For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but ^(C1)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even ^(F1)have second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.

Parable of the Landowner

³³ "Listen to another parable. ^(C1)There was a ^(F1)landowner who ^(C2)PLANTED A ^(C3)VINEYARD AND PUT A ^(F2)FENCE AROUND IT, AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and he leased it to ^(F3)vine-growers and ^(C4)went on a journey.³⁴ "And when the ^(F1)harvest time approached, he ^(C1)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit.³⁵ "And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.³⁶ "Again, he ^(C1)sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them.³⁷ "But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'³⁸ "But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let's kill him and take possession of his inheritance!'³⁹ "And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.⁴⁰ "Therefore, when the ^(F1)owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?"⁴¹ They ^(*)said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and ^(C1)lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons."

⁴² Jesus ^(*)said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures,

'^(C1)A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS HAS BECOME THE ^(F1)CHIEF CORNERSTONE;
THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.⁴⁶ And although they sought to arrest Him, they ^(C1)feared the crowds, since they considered Him to be a ^(C2)prophet.