to a virgin engaged ¹  to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, ²  and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Now he came to a Samaritan town ¹  called Sychar, ²  near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ³ 

By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff. ¹ 

By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, ¹  mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel ²  and gave instructions about his burial. ³ 

from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

When the men of Joseph spied out Bethel (it used to be called Luz),

Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he met him, ¹  he hugged his neck and wept on his neck for quite some time.

Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of ¹  Joseph and said, “Have sex with me.” ² 

So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: ¹  “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me.

Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, ¹  saying, ²  “Certainly ³  God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.”

The servant in charge ¹  brought the men into Joseph’s house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave food to their donkeys.

Then Moses gave a ruling ¹  to the Israelites by the word ²  of the Lord: “What the tribe of the Josephites is saying is right.

He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph, when he attacked the land of Egypt. ¹  I heard a voice I did not recognize. ² 

Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers ¹  are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” “I’m ready,” ²  Joseph replied. ³ 

This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ¹  was taking care of ²  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ³  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ⁴  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ⁵  to their father.

‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept. ¹ 

The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the part of the field that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money. ¹  So it became the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph. ² 

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons ¹  because he was a son born to him late in life, ²  and he made a special ³  tunic for him.

So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. ¹  Potiphar appointed Joseph ²  overseer of his household and put him in charge ³  of everything he owned.

Even though she continued to speak ¹  to Joseph day after day, he did not respond ²  to her invitation to have sex with her. ³