Genesis 44

• 1. Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: "Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man's silver in the mouth of his sack.
• 2. Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with the silver for his grain." And he did as Joseph said.
• 3. As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.
• 4. They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, "Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil?
• 5. Isn't this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.'"
• 6. When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them.
• 7. But they said to him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that!
• 8. We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house?
• 9. If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves."
• 10. "Very well, then," he said, "let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame."
• 11. Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.
• 12. Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
• 13. At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
• 14. Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him.
• 15. Joseph said to them, "What is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?"
• 16. "What can we say to my lord?" Judah replied. "What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants' guilt. We are now my lord's slaves-we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup."
• 17. But Joseph said, "Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace."
• 18. Then Judah went up to him and said: "Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
• 19. My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?'
• 20. And we answered, 'We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'
• 21. "Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.'
• 22. And we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.'
• 23. But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.'
• 24. When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.
• 25. "Then our father said, 'Go back and buy a little more food.'
• 26. But we said, 'We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'
• 27. "Your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons.
• 28. One of them went away from me, and I said, "He has surely been torn to pieces." And I have not seen him since.
• 29. If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.'
• 30. "So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life,
• 31. sees that the boy isn't there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow.
• 32. Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father. I said, 'If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!'
• 33. "Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.
• 34. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father."

Mark 15

• 1. Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
• 2. "Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
• 3. The chief priests accused him of many things.
• 4. So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."
• 5. But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
• 6. Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.
• 7. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.
• 8. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
• 9. "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate,
• 10. knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.
• 11. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
• 12. "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.
• 13. "Crucify him!" they shouted.
• 14. "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
• 15. Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
• 16. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.
• 17. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
• 18. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!"
• 19. Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.
• 20. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
• 21. A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.
• 22. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).
• 23. Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
• 24. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
• 25. It was the third hour when they crucified him.
• 26. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
• 27. They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.
• 28. See Footnote
• 29. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,
• 30. come down from the cross and save yourself!"
• 31. In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself!
• 32. Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
• 33. At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
• 34. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
• 35. When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."
• 36. One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.
• 37. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
• 38. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
• 39. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"
• 40. Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
• 41. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
• 42. It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,
• 43. Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.
• 44. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.
• 45. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.
• 46. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
• 47. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

Job 11

• 1. Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
• 2. "Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker to be vindicated?
• 3. Will your idle talk reduce men to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you mock?
• 4. You say to God, 'My beliefs are flawless and I am pure in your sight.'
• 5. Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you
• 6. and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.
• 7. "Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
• 8. They are higher than the heavens-what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave -what can you know?
• 9. Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.
• 10. "If he comes along and confines you in prison and convenes a court, who can oppose him?
• 11. Surely he recognizes deceitful men; and when he sees evil, does he not take note?
• 12. But a witless man can no more become wise than a wild donkey's colt can be born a man.
• 13. "Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him,
• 14. if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
• 15. then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.
• 16. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by.
• 17. Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning.
• 18. You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
• 19. You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor.
• 20. But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; their hope will become a dying gasp."

New International Version

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