Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near qShechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of rHebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to sDothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at sDothan.
18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them tthey conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, ulet us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.1 Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when vReuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—wthat he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, xthe robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and ythrew him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a zcaravan of aIshmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing bgum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it cif we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and dlet not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then eMidianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and fsold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels2 of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he gtore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy his gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took iJoseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. jA fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters krose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, lI shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile mthe Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, nthe captain of the guard.
O God of Our Salvation
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 Praise eis due to you,1 O God, in Zion,
and to you shall fvows be performed.
2 O you who ghear prayer,
to you hshall all flesh come.
3 When iiniquities prevail against me,
you jatone for our transgressions.
4 kBlessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to ldwell in your courts!
We shall be msatisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!
5 By nawesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all othe ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being pgirded with might;
7 who qstills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
rthe tumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
The Purpose of the Parables
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, x“To you it has been given to know ythe secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 zFor to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, aeven what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because bseeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, cnor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
d“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears ethey can barely hear,
and ftheir eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and gunderstand with their heart
and hturn, and I would heal them.’
16 But iblessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 iFor truly, I say to you, jmany prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
