Weekly Readings

The plans of the heart belong to humans,

but an answer on the tongue comes from the Lord.

2 A person thinks all his ways are pure,

but the Lord weighs motives.

3 Entrust your efforts to the Lord,

and your plans will succeed.

9 A person may plan his own journey,

but the Lord directs his steps.

21 Many plans are in the human heart,

but the advice of the Lord will endure.

2 This is the account of Jacob and his descendants.

Joseph was a seventeen-year-old young man. He took care of the flocks with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph told his father about the bad things his brothers were doing.

3 Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because Joseph had been born in Israel’s old age. So he made Joseph a special robe with long sleeves. 4 Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them. They hated Joseph and couldn’t speak to him on friendly terms.

18 They saw him from a distance. Before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 They said to each other, “Look, here comes that master dreamer! 20 Let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and say that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we’ll see what happens to his dreams.”

26 Judah asked his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up his death? 27 Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let’s not hurt him, because he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

28 As the Midianite merchants were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern. They sold him to the Ishmaelites for eight ounces of silver. The Ishmaelites took him to Egypt.

4 “Please come closer to me,” Joseph said to his brothers. When they did so, he said, “I am Joseph, the brother you sold into slavery in Egypt! 5 Now, don’t be sad or angry with yourselves that you sold me. God sent me ahead of you to save lives. 6 The famine has been in the land for two years. There will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to make sure that you would have descendants on the earth and to save your lives in an amazing way. 8 It wasn’t you who sent me here, but God. He has made me like a father to Pharaoh, lord over his entire household, and ruler of Egypt.

19 Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I can’t take God’s place. 20 Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it. This was to keep many people alive, as he is doing now. 21 Don’t be afraid! I will provide for you and your children.” In this way he reassured them, setting their minds at ease.

7 “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 “If your child asks you for bread, would any of you give him a stone? 10 Or if your child asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? 11 Even though you’re evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?