14 June 2015 Sunday Morning Service
Bible
OT Genesis 40 : 1 – 23
NT Mark 6 : 14 – 29
Genesis
40:1 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt.
40:2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
40:3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.
40:4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time,
40:5 each of the two men–the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison–had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
40:6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected.
40:7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?”
40:8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
40:9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me,
40:10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes.
40:11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”
40:12 “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.
40:13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.
40:14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.
40:15 For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”
40:16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.
40:17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
40:18 “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days.
40:19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat away your flesh.”
40:20 Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials:
40:21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand,
40:22 but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.
40:23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
Mark
6:14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
6:15 Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
6:16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
6:17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.
6:18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
6:19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to,
6:20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
6:21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
6:22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.”
6:23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
6:24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
6:25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
6:26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.
6:27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison,
6:28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.
6:29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.