March 6, 2026

3Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long ornamented tunic. 4When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his brothers, they hated him so much that they could not say a kind word to him. 12One day, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem, 13Israel said to Joseph, “Are your brothers not tending our flocks at Shechem? Come and I will send you to them.” “I am ready,” Joseph answered. 17The man told him, “They have moved on from here; in fact, I heard them say, ‘Let us go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. 18They saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19They said to one another: “Here comes that dreamer! 20Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We will see then what comes of his dreams.” 21But when Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying: “We must not take his life.” 22Then Reuben said, “Do not shed blood! Throw him into this cistern in the wilderness; but do not lay a hand on him.” His purpose was to save him from their hands and restore him to his father. 23So when Joseph came up to his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the long ornamented tunic he had on; 24then they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 25Then they sat down to eat. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm, and resin to be taken down to Egypt. 26Judah said to his brothers: “What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood? 27Come, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. 28Midianite traders passed by, and they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

16IV - Then he called down a famine on the land, destroyed the grain that sustained them. 17He had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, sold as a slave. 18They shackled his feet with chains; collared his neck in iron, 19Till his prediction came to pass, and the word of the LORD proved him true. 20The king sent and released him; the ruler of peoples set him free. 21He made him lord over his household, ruler over all his possessions,

16For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

33“Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. 34When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. 35But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. 36Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. 37Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ 39They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” 41They answered him, “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.” 42Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes’? 43Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. 45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. 46And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.