Day 23 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 18:25–34

²⁵To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless; ²⁶to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. ²⁷For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes. ²⁸For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God lights up my darkness. ²⁹For in You I can charge an army, and with my God I can scale a wall. ³⁰As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. ³¹For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? ³²It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear. ³³He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights. ³⁴He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

New Testament·Matthew 14:27–15:11

²⁷But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” ²⁸“Lord, if it is You,” Peter replied, “command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹“Come,” said Jesus. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of Peter. “You of little faith,” He said, “why did you doubt?” ³²And when they had climbed back into the boat, the wind died down. ³³Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God!” ³⁴When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding region. People brought all the sick to Him ³⁶and begged Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak. And all who touched Him were healed.

15Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ²“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” ³Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ⁶he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: ⁸‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. ⁹They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’” ¹⁰Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”

Old Testament·Genesis 41

¹After two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile, ²when seven cows, sleek and well-fed, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds. ³After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside the well-fed cows on the bank of the river. ⁴And the cows that were sickly and thin devoured the seven sleek, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up, ⁵but he fell back asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, came up on one stalk. ⁶After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the east wind. ⁷And the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh awoke and realized it was a dream. ⁸In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him. ⁹Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures. ¹⁰Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guard. ¹¹One night both the chief baker and I had dreams, and each dream had its own meaning. ¹²Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us individually. ¹³And it happened to us just as he had interpreted: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.” ¹⁴So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh. ¹⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶“I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.” ¹⁷Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, ¹⁸when seven cows, well-fed and sleek, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds. ¹⁹After them, seven other cows—sickly, ugly, and thin—came up. I have never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt! ²⁰Then the thin, ugly cows devoured the seven well-fed cows that were there first. ²¹When they had devoured them, however, no one could tell that they had done so; their appearance was as ugly as it had been before. Then I awoke. ²²In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, growing on a single stalk. ²³After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind. ²⁴And the thin heads of grain swallowed the seven plump ones. I told this dream to the magicians, but no one could explain it to me.” ²⁵At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads of grain are seven years. The dreams have the same meaning. ²⁷Moreover, the seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind—they are seven years of famine. ²⁸It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, ³⁰but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land. ³¹The abundance in the land will not be remembered, since the famine that follows it will be so severe. ³²Moreover, because the dream was given to Pharaoh in two versions, the matter has been decreed by God, and He will carry it out shortly. ³³Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities. ³⁶This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.” ³⁷This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his officials. ³⁸So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?” ³⁹Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹Pharaoh also told Joseph, “I hereby place you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴²Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot.” ⁴⁵Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁶Now Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷During the seven years of abundance, the land brought forth bountifully. ⁴⁸During those seven years, Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities. In every city he laid up the food from the fields around it. ⁴⁹So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance, like the sand of the sea, that he stopped keeping track of it; for it was beyond measure. ⁵⁰Before the years of famine arrived, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. ⁵¹Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.” ⁵²And the second son he named Ephraim, saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” ⁵³When the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt. ⁵⁵When extreme hunger came to all the land of Egypt and the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.” ⁵⁶When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷And every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.