Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a  ¹mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,

And which is smaller than all the seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a  ¹tree, so that the  ²birds of heaven come and roost in its branches.

Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like  ¹leaven, which a  ²woman took and hid in three measures of  ³meal until the whole was leavened.

All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, and apart from a parable He spoke nothing to them,

So that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden  ¹from the foundation of the world.”

Then, leaving the crowds, He went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, Make the parable of the tares of the field clear to us.

And He answered and said, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;

And the field is the world; and the  ¹good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;

And the enemy who sowed them is the devil; and the harvest is the consummation of the age; and the reapers are angels.

Therefore just as the tares are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the consummation of the age.

The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will collect out of  ¹His kingdom all the stumbling blocks and those who practice lawlessness,

And will cast them into the  ¹furnace of fire. In that place there will be the  ²weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Then the  ¹righteous will shine forth like the sun in the  ²kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

The kingdom of the heavens is like a  ¹treasure hidden in the  ²field, which a  ³man found and hid, and in his joy goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a  ¹merchant seeking fine pearls;

And finding one  ¹pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a  ¹net cast into the  ²sea and gathering from  ³every species,

Which, when it was filled, they brought onto the shore, and sat down and collected the  ¹good into vessels; but the foul they cast out.

So it will be at the consummation of the age: the angels will go forth and separate the evil from the midst of the righteous,

And will cast them into the  ¹furnace of fire. In that place there will be the  ²weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, Yes.

And He said to them, For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who brings forth out of his  ¹treasure things new and old.

Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the  ¹dungeon; and he shaved himself and changed his garments, and he came to Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, but there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.

And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not of me; God  ¹will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.

And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the River.

And there came up out of the River seven cows, fat-fleshed and fine-looking; and they grazed in the reed grass.

Then there came up after them seven other cows, poor and very ugly-looking and thin-fleshed; I had never seen such in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.

And the thin and ugly-looking cows ate up the first seven fat cows.

And when they had swallowed them, no one would have known that they had swallowed them, for they were still as ugly-looking as at the beginning. Then I awoke.

And I saw this in my dream: There were seven ears of grain, coming up on one stalk, full and good.

Then there were seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, that sprouted after them.

And the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, Pharaoh's dream is one dream; what God is about to do He has told Pharaoh.

The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one.

And the seven thin and ugly-looking cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven empty ears scorched by the east wind; they will be seven years of famine.

This matter is just as I have spoken to Pharaoh; what God is about to do He has shown to Pharaoh.

Seven years of great abundance are now about to come throughout all the land of Egypt.

Then seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will consume the land.

And the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that famine which follows, for it will be very severe.

And as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.

Now therefore let Pharaoh look out for a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.

Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.

And let them gather all the food of these coming good years and lay up grain under Pharaoh's authority for food in the cities, and let them keep it.

And let the food become a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that will be in the land of Egypt, so that the land does not perish in the famine.

And the word seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.

And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find such a man like this, in whom the Spirit of God is?

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God let you know all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

You shall be  ¹over my household, and according to your word all my people shall be ruled; only in the throne will I be greater than you.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh took off his  ¹signet ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand, and clothed him in  ¹garments of fine linen, and put a  ¹gold chain around his neck.

And he made him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command, and they cried out before him, Bow the knee! And he set him over all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, yet without your consent no man will lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name  ¹Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him  ²Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and passed through all the land of Egypt.

And in the seven years of abundance the earth produced copiously.

And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which came upon the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities; he placed the food from the surrounding fields within each city.

And Joseph stored grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea until he stopped measuring it; for it was beyond measure.

And before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.

And Joseph called the name of the firstborn  ¹Manasseh, for, he said, God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's house.

And he called the name of the second  ¹Ephraim, for, he said, God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.

And the seven years of abundance that came upon the land of Egypt came to an end.

And the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. And there was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

So when all the land of Egypt became hungry, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do.

And when the famine was over  ¹all the face of the earth, Joseph opened  ²all the storehouses of grain and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine became severe in the land of Egypt.

And all the earth came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

Now when Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, Why do you keep looking at one another?

And he said, I have now heard that there is grain in Egypt;  ¹go down there, and buy grain for us from there, that we may live and not die.

So Joseph's ten  ¹brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, Perhaps harm may befall him.

And the sons of Israel came to buy grain among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

Now Joseph was the governor over the land; it was he who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke harshly with them. And he said to them, Where have you come from? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.

And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them, and he  ¹said to them, You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.

And they said to him, No, my lord; rather your servants have come to buy grain for food.

We are all sons of one man. We are honest men; your servants have never been spies.

And he said to them, No; but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.

And they said, We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and at this moment the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.

But Joseph said to them, It is just as I spoke to you, saying, You are spies.

By this you shall be tested: As Pharaoh lives, you shall not go away from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

Send one of you to get your brother while you remain bound, that your words may be tested whether there is truth in you. And if not, as Pharaoh lives, surely you are spies.

And he put them all together in  ¹custody three days.

And Joseph said to them on the third day, Do this and live, for I fear God.

If you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain bound in your place of custody; and the rest of you go, carry grain for the famine of your households.

And bring your youngest brother to me, that your words may be verified; and you will not die. And they did so.

And they said one to another, We are indeed guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come to us.

And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the child? But you would not listen. So now also his blood is required.

And they did not know that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them.

And he turned away from them and wept. Then he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took  ¹Simeon from among them and bound him before their eyes.

Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain and to restore every man's silver pieces to his sack and to give them provisions for the way. And thus was it done for them.

And they loaded their grain upon their donkeys and departed from there.

And one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, and he saw his silver; there it was in the mouth of his sack.

And he said to his brothers, My silver has been returned; and here it is in my sack! And their heart stopped, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, What is this that God has done to us?

And they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying,

The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and took us for spies on the land.

But we said to him, We are honest men; we have never been spies.

We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; the one is no more, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.

And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this will I know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go.

And bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies but honest men. I will give you your brother, and you may trade in the land.

And when they emptied their sacks, there was each man's bundle of silver pieces, in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of silver, they were afraid.

And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.

And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, You may put to death my two sons if I do not bring him to you. Put him in my hand, and I will return him to you.

But he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. And if harm should befall him on the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.