Old/New Testament
Chapter 46
Jacob Goes to Egypt.[a] 1 Israel set out with all that he had and arrived at Beer-sheba where he offered a sacrifice to the God of his father Isaac.
2 God appeared to Israel in a vision during the night saying, “Jacob, Jacob.” He answered, “Here I am.”
3 He continued, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not fear to go down into Egypt, for down there I will make a great people of you. 4 I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will surely make you return. Joseph will close your eyes.”
5 Jacob left Beer-sheba, and the sons of Israel put their father, their children, and their wives into the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry them. 6 They took with them their animals and all the possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Thus, Jacob and all his descendants went to Egypt. 7 He brought his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters, and all his descendants with him into Egypt.
8 These are the names of the sons of Israel who entered Egypt: Jacob and his sons.
Reuben the firstborn of Jacob.
9 The sons of Reuben:
Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 The sons of Simeon:
Nemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 The sons of Levi:
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 The sons of Judah:
Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah, (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan).
The sons of Perez:
Hezron and Hamul.
13 The sons of Issachar:
Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.
14 The sons of Zebulun:
Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These were the sons whom Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with their daughter Dinah. The total number of her sons and daughters was thirty-three.
16 The sons of Gad:
Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arod, and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher:
Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.
The sons of Beriah:
Heber and Malchiel.
18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah. She bore them to Jacob: sixteen in all.
19 The sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob:
Joseph and Benjamin. 20 Ephraim and Manasseh were born to Joseph in Egypt. They were the sons of Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On.[b]
21 The sons of Benjamin:
Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ahiram, Shupham, Hupham, and Ard.
22 These were the sons Rachel bore to Jacob—fourteen in all.
23 The son of Dan:
Hushim.
24 The sons of Naphtali:
Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These were the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. She bore them to Jacob: seven in all.
26 All those who entered with Jacob into Egypt were his offspring. Not counting the wives of the sons of Jacob there were sixty-six in all. 27 Two sons were born to Joseph in Egypt. The members of the family of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
28 Joseph and Pharaoh Welcome Jacob.[c] Jacob sent Judah to Joseph ahead of the rest so that he might give instructions in Goshen before his arrival. When they arrived in the land of Goshen, 29 Joseph made his chariot ready and went up into Goshen to greet Israel, his father. As soon as he saw him, he threw himself around his neck and wept for a long time holding on to his neck.
30 Israel said to Joseph, “Let me die, now that I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
31 Joseph said to his brothers and to the family of his father, “I am going to inform Pharaoh and to tell him, ‘My brothers and the family of my father, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to be with me. 32 These men were shepherds of flocks and they tended herds. They have brought their flocks, their herds, and all their possessions.’ 33 When Pharaoh summons you and asks you what you do for a living, 34 you should answer, ‘Your servants have been men who care for cattle from their youth until now, just as our fathers did.’ This is so that you can dwell in the land of Goshen.” For all shepherds of flocks are an abomination to the Egyptians.
Chapter 47
1 Joseph went to inform Pharaoh, saying to him, “My father and my brothers with their flocks and herds and with all their possessions have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 2 He selected five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What work do you do?”
They answered Pharaoh, “We shepherd the flocks of your servants, just as our fathers did.” 4 They went on to tell Pharaoh, “We came to sojourn in this land because there were no more pastures for the flocks of your servants. The famine is terrible in the land of Canaan. Please allow your servants to dwell in the land of Goshen.”
5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is at your disposition. Have your father and your brothers settle in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any of them as able men, place them in charge of my cattle.”
7 Joseph then introduced Jacob, his father, and presented him to Pharaoh. After Jacob had blessed Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”
9 Jacob answered Pharaoh, “One hundred and thirty are the years of my sojourning. Few and sad are the years of my life, and I have not reached the number of years that my fathers lived in their life journey.” 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and withdrew from his presence.
11 Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the territory of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Joseph provided for his father, his brothers, and all the family of his father, as much bread as was needed for each person.
13 Joseph’s Administration.[d] Now there was no bread in the whole land, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money there was in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain that they were buying. Joseph sent this money to Pharaoh. 15 When the money of the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread! Why should we die while you are watching? We do not have any more money.”
16 Joseph answered, “If you do not have any more money, give me your animals and I will give you bread in exchange for the animals.” 17 They therefore brought their animals to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for their horses and sheep, their oxen and their donkeys. That year he fed them with bread in exchange for their animals.
18 That year having ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone and our animals now belong to my lord. We have nothing for my lord except our own bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die with you looking on, we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for bread, and we will become servants to Pharaoh, we and our land. But give us something to plant so that we live and not die and the land not become a desert.”
20 Joseph acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, because the Egyptians sold their fields on account of the famine that weighed upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s property. 21 As to the people, he moved them into the cities from one end to the other of the borders of Egypt. 22 Only the property which belonged to the priests was not bought, for the priests had a fixed allotment given to them by Pharaoh, and they ate the allotment that Pharaoh had given them. This is why they did not sell their land.
23 Joseph said to the people, “See, today I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed, sow the land. 24 But when you harvest it, you will give a fifth of it to Pharaoh and four-fifths will be for you to sow the fields and feed yourselves and those who are in your household and to feed your children.”
25 They answered, “You have saved our lives! Let us only find favor before my lord and we will be servants of Pharaoh.”
26 Joseph made a law that is still in force up until this day for the land of Egypt, that a one-fifth portion must be given to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests does not belong to Pharaoh.
27 Final Dispositions of Jacob. The Israelites settled in the land of Egypt, in the territory of Goshen. They had possessions and were fruitful and became very numerous.
28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years and he lived for a total of one hundred and forty-seven years.
29 When the day of his death drew near, Israel summoned his son Joseph and told him, “If I have found favor in your sight, place your hand under my thigh and deal with me kindly and faithfully. Do not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I lie with my fathers, carry me from Egypt and bury me in their tomb.”
31 “I will do as you say,” he replied.
But Jacob demanded, “Swear it to me.” He answered, “I swear it.” And he swore it. Then Israel sank back on his pillow.
Chapter 48
Jacob Adopts and Blesses Joseph’s Sons.[e] 1 Some time later, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he brought his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Behold your son Joseph is here for you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 saying to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful. I will multiply you and make you become a multitude of peoples, and I will give this land to your descendants after you as an eternal possession.’
5 “Now the two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I arrived to be with you in Egypt are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just like Reuben and Simeon. 6 The sons that you will have after these, they will be yours. They will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, while I was arriving from Paddan, Rachel, your mother, died in the land of Canaan while we were in journey, not too far on the road from Ephrath. We buried her on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.”
8 Then Israel saw the sons of Joseph and said, “Who are these?”
9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons whom God has given me here.”
Israel said, “Bring them to me so that I can bless them.”
10 The eyes of Israel were dim in his old age. He could no longer see. Joseph approached him, kissed him, and embraced him. 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I did not believe that I would see you face to face, and now, behold, God has granted me even to see your children.”
12 Joseph took them off his knees and bowed his face to the ground. 13 Then he placed the two of them, Ephraim on the left hand of Israel and Manasseh on the right hand of Israel, and he brought them to him. 14 But Israel took his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger of the two, and the left hand he put on the head of Manasseh, crossing his arms, although Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 Then he blessed Joseph,
“God, before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked,
God who has been my shepherd
again and again until this day,
16 the Angel who has freed me from every evil,
bless these young ones!
Let my name be remembered through them
and the name of my fathers
Abraham and Isaac
and let them be multiplied greatly
upon the earth.”
17 Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim and that this was wrong. He took the hand of his father to remove it from the head of Ephraim and put it on Manasseh’s head. 18 He said to his father, “Not like this, my father, this is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He will also become a people, he will also be great, but his younger brother will be greater than he and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day,
“By you Israel shall pronounce blessings saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’ ”
He thus put Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Israel then said to Joseph, “Behold, I am ready to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 As for me, I give to you, more than to your brothers, a mountain ridge that I won from the hands of the Amorites with sword and bow.”
Chapter 13
Jesus Teaches in Parables[a]
The Day of Parables. 1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the side of the lake. 2 However, such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables.[b]
The Parable of the Sower.[c] He said: “A sower went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. They sprouted quickly, since the soil had very little depth, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched, and since they lacked roots, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 But some seeds fell on rich soil and produced a crop—some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear!”
10 The Reason for Parables.[d] Then his disciples approached and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 He replied, “To you has been granted knowledge of the mysteries[e] of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 To the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. As for the one who does not have, even what little he has will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that they see but do not perceive and they listen but do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
‘You will indeed hear but not understand,
you will indeed look but never see.
15 For this people’s heart has become hardened;
they have stopped up their ears
and they have shut their eyes,
so that they might not see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and then turn to me,
and I would heal them.’
16 The Privilege of Discipleship.[f]“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 The Explanation of the Parable of the Sower.[g]“Therefore listen to the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; that is the seed sown on the path. 20 As for the seed sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 21 But such a person has no deep root, and he endures for only a short time. When some trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, he immediately falls away.
22 “The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but worldly cares and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. 23 However, the seed sown in rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
24 The Parable of the Weeds.[h] He then proposed another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 While everyone was asleep, his enemy came, sowed weeds[i] among the wheat, and then went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and ripened, the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and asked, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did these weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘One of my enemies has done this.’ The servants then asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’
29 “He replied, ‘No, because in gathering the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let them both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time, I will tell the reapers, “Collect the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned. Then gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
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