Thursday in Season after Pentecost

10Verse 10. Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me. 11Verse 11. The LORD said: “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will intercede with your enemy in your time of trouble, in your time of distress. 12Verse 12. Can anyone smash iron — iron from the north — or bronze? 13Verse 13. Your wealth and your treasures I will give up as plunder, without charge for all your sins within all your borders. 14Verse 14. Then I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for My anger will kindle a fire that will burn against you.” 15Verse 15. You understand, O LORD; remember me and attend to me. Avenge me against my persecutors. In Your patience, do not take me away. Know that I endure reproach for Your honor. 16Verse 16. Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts. 17Verse 17. I never sat with the band of revelers, nor did I celebrate with them. Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, for You have filled me with indignation. 18Verse 18. Why is my pain unending, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You have indeed become like a mirage to me— water that is not there. 19Verse 19. Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them. 20Verse 20. Then I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save and deliver you, declares the LORD. 21Verse 21. I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

1Verse 1. Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2Verse 2. And the LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. 3Verse 3. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and made him prosper in all he did, 4Verse 4. Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household and entrusted him with everything he owned. 5Verse 5. From the time that he put Joseph in charge of his household and all he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s household on account of him. The LORD’s blessing was on everything he owned, both in his house and in his field. 6Verse 6. So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7Verse 7. and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” 8Verse 8. But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care. 9Verse 9. No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” 10Verse 10. Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her. 11Verse 11. One day, however, Joseph went into the house to attend to his work, and not a single household servant was inside. 12Verse 12. She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13Verse 13. When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14Verse 14. she called her household servants. “Look,” she said, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, but I screamed as loud as I could. 15Verse 15. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 16Verse 16. So Potiphar’s wife kept Joseph’s cloak beside her until his master came home. 17Verse 17. Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me, 18Verse 18. but when I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 19Verse 19. When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” he burned with anger. 20Verse 20. So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison, 21Verse 21. the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22Verse 22. And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison. 23Verse 23. The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.