22nd January

¹ And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.² These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.⁴ And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.⁵ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.⁶ And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:⁷ For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.⁸ And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.⁹ And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.¹⁰ And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?¹¹ And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.¹² And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.¹³ And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.¹⁴ And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.¹⁵ And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?¹⁶ And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.¹⁷ And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.¹⁸ And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.¹⁹ And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.²⁰ Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.²¹ And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.²² And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.²³ And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;²⁴ And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.²⁵ And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.²⁶ And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?²⁷ Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.²⁸ Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.²⁹ And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.³⁰ And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?³¹ And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;³² And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.³³ And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.³⁴ And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.³⁶ And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.

¹ I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.² I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.³ My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,⁴ LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.⁵ Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.⁶ Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.⁷ And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.⁹ I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.¹⁰ Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.¹¹ When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.¹² Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.¹³ O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.² He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.³ And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.⁴ Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.⁶ Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.⁷ Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,⁸ I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.⁹ I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.¹⁰ I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.¹¹ Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.¹² For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.¹⁴ Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.¹⁵ Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.¹⁶ Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.¹⁷ But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

¹ And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.² And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.³ And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?⁴ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.⁵ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.⁶ And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.⁷ For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.⁹ Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.¹⁰ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.¹¹ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.¹² And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.¹³ But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.¹⁵ When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)¹⁶ Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:¹⁷ Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:¹⁸ Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.¹⁹ And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!²⁰ But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:²¹ For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.²² And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.²³ Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.²⁴ For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.²⁵ Behold, I have told you before.²⁶ Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.²⁷ For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.²⁸ For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.²⁹ Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:³⁰ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.³¹ And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.³² Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:³³ So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.³⁴ Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.³⁵ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.³⁶ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.³⁷ But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.³⁸ For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,³⁹ And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.⁴⁰ Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.⁴¹ Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.⁴² Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.⁴³ But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.⁴⁴ Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.⁴⁵ Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.⁴⁷ Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.⁴⁸ But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;⁴⁹ And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;⁵⁰ The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,⁵¹ And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.