Old/New Testament
Chapter 43
The Sons of Jacob Set Out Again for Egypt.[a] 1 The famine continued to grow more severe in the land. 2 When they had finished eating the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Return there to buy a little more food for us.”
3 But Judah said to him, “That man told us harshly, ‘You shall not come into my presence if you do not have your brother with you.’ 4 If you are willing to let us leave with our brother, then we will go down there and buy grain. 5 But if you will not let him leave, we will not go because of what that man told us: ‘You shall not come into my presence if you do not have your brother with you.’ ”
6 Israel said, “Why have you done this evil thing to me, to let that man know that you had another brother?”
7 They answered, “That man interrogated us, demanding to know about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have some other brothers?’ and we answered his questions. How could we know that he would have said, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
8 Judah said to Israel his father, “Let the young one come with me. We will leave immediately, so that we might live and not die, we, you, and our children. 9 I will make myself the pledge for him. You will receive him from my hand. If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear this guilt in your eyes all my life. 10 If you had not hesitated, we could have already gone there and back twice by now.”
11 Israel their father answered, “If this is the way it is, do it. Pack your bags with the choice products of the land to give to that man as a gift: some balsam, a bit of honey, resin, gum, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12 Take double the amount of money with you. Take back the money that you found in the mouth of your sacks; maybe there was a mistake. 13 Take your brother as well; leave and return to that man. 14 May God Almighty help you to find mercy with that man so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I must mourn my children, I will do so.”
15 The Sons of Jacob Are Guests of Joseph.[b] The men therefore took the gifts, double the money, and Benjamin and left. They went down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his head steward: “Bring these men into the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it. They are to eat the noonday meal with me.”
17 The steward did what Joseph had ordered and brought the men into his house. 18 They were worried when they were brought into Joseph’s house and they said, “He brought us here because of the money that was placed back in our sacks the other time. They are going to fall upon us and make us slaves and take our donkeys as well.”
19 So they approached Joseph’s head steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house 20 saying, “My lord, we came one other time to buy provisions. 21 When we arrived at the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each one discovered his money in the mouth of the sack. It was the exact amount of money we had brought. But we have brought it back 22 and we brought some other money as well to buy more food. We do not know who placed our money in the sacks.”
23 But he told them, “Be at peace! Do not fear! Your God and the God of your fathers placed riches in your sacks. I received your money.” And he brought Simeon to them.
24 The steward led the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water to wash their feet, and provided forage for their donkeys. 25 They prepared their gifts while they waited for Joseph to arrive at noon, for they knew that they were to eat in that place.
26 When Joseph arrived, they presented to him the gifts that they had with them, and they bowed their faces to the ground before him. 27 He asked them how they were and said, “How is your aged father, the one about whom you have spoken? Is he still alive?”
28 They answered, “Your servant, our father, is well, and he is still alive,” and they knelt and bowed down.
29 Looking up, he saw Benjamin, his brother, the son of his mother, and said, “Is this your youngest brother about whom you have spoken?” He added, “God bless you, my son!” 30 Joseph went out in a rush, for he was deeply moved at seeing his brother and he was close to tears. He went into his room and wept there.
31 Then he washed his face, went out, and, controlling his emotions, ordered, “Serve the meal.”
32 He was served separately, then his brothers, and then the Egyptians, for Egyptians cannot eat with Hebrews. It would be an abomination for them. 33 He sat them before himself from the firstborn to the youngest, each in the order of his birth. They looked at each other with awe. 34 He served them a portion taken from his own table, but the portion he gave to Benjamin was five times larger than that given to all the others. They then drank with him until they were lighthearted.
Chapter 44
Benjamin Is Condemned To Remain in Egypt.[c] 1 Joseph then gave this order to the head steward of his house, “Fill these men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry and place each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. 2 Also place my cup, my silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest along with the money for their grain.” And he did as Joseph had ordered.
3 When morning dawned the men set out with their donkeys. 4 They had just left the city and were not far off when Joseph said to the head steward of his house, “Up, follow the men. When you reach them, tell them, ‘Why have you paid back evil for good? 5 Is this not the cup that my lord uses for drinking and to tell the future? Why have you done this evil thing?’ ”
6 He reached them and repeated these words to them. 7 They told him, “Why is my lord saying these things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 8 We brought the money that we found in the mouth of the sacks back from the land of Canaan. How could we steal the silver or gold from the house of your master? 9 Whichever of your servants is found with it will be put to death, and we will also become the slaves of your master.”
10 He answered, “Very well, it will be as you have said. Whoever is found with it will be my slave; the others will be innocent.”
11 Each one hurried to unload his sack and open it. 12 The steward searched from the oldest to the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 At this, they tore their clothes. Then each one loaded up his donkey, and they returned to the city.
14 When Judah and his brothers came to the house of Joseph, they found him still there; so they threw themselves on the ground in front of him. 15 Joseph told them, “What have you done? Did you not know that a man like me could cast a spell to find out the truth?”
16 Judah said, “What will we say to our lord? What can we say? How can we justify ourselves? God has uncovered the iniquity of your servants. Let us be slaves of my lord, we and the one with whom the cup was found.” 17 He answered them, “Far be it from me to do this! The man with whom the cup was found, he will be my slave. As for you, return in peace to your father.”
18 But Judah came before him and said, “My lord, let your servant please speak a word in the ear of my lord. Let your anger not burn against your servant, for you are as great as Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20 We told my lord, ‘We have an aged father and a younger brother who was born in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only remaining son of his mother, and his father loves him.’
21 “You said to your servants, ‘Bring him here to me, so that I can see him with my own eyes.’ 22 We told my lord, ‘The young one cannot leave his father; if he were to leave his father he would die.’ 23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your younger brother does not come down here with you, you shall not see my face.’ 24 When we returned to your servant, my father, we told him the words of my lord.
25 “Our father said, ‘Return to buy a little more food for us.’ 26 We answered, ‘We cannot return down there if our younger brother does not go down with us. Otherwise, we will not be admitted into the presence of that man, if our younger brother is not with us.’
27 “Your servant, my father, said, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One left me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since. 29 If you carry away this one and something were to happen to him, you would make this gray head go down with sorrow into the netherworld.’
30 “Now, when I go back to your servant, my father, and the young one is not with me (for the life of one is bound to the other), 31 he will surely die as soon as he sees that the young one is not with me. Thus, your servants will have made the gray head of your servant, our father, go down into the netherworld. 32 Your servant made himself a pledge for the young one with my father: ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear this guilt before you all my life.’
33 “Let your servant remain as the slave of my lord instead of the young one. Let the young one return back with his brothers. 34 How could I return to my father without having the young one with me? I could not bear to see the evil that I will have done to my father.”
Chapter 45
Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers and Manifests God’s Plan.[d] 1 Joseph could no longer control himself in front of all of his attendants and he cried out, “Let everyone leave my presence!” Thus no one was there when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. 2 He cried out so loudly that all the Egyptians heard him, and the news reached Pharaoh’s palace.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not respond for they were dumbfounded at his presence.
4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me!” They approached him, and he said to them, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 But do not be grieved and do not be angry with yourselves for having sold me down here, for God sent me here before you to save your lives. 6 The famine has already lasted two years in the land, and there are another five years in which there will be neither plowing not reaping. 7 God sent me here before you, to preserve a remnant for you on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 “It was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me a father to Pharaoh, lord over his whole household, and ruler of all the land of Egypt.
9 “Hurry, go up to my father and tell him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God has made me lord over all of Egypt. Come down here to me and do not delay. 10 You will live in the land of Goshen[e] and stay near me, you and your sons and the sons of your sons, your flocks and your herds, and all your possessions. 11 There I will give you provisions, for there will still be five more years to this famine, lest your family fall into poverty, you, and your family, and all you possess.” ’
12 “Your own eyes have seen it and the eyes of my brother Benjamin have seen it: it is I who speak to you. 13 Tell my father all the glory that I have in Egypt and what you have seen. Hurry to bring my father down here.”
14 He threw himself on the neck of Benjamin and cried. Benjamin also cried, holding on to his neck. 15 He then kissed all his brothers and cried, holding them to himself. Afterward, his brothers spoke to him.
16 In the house of Pharaoh they heard the report: “The brothers of Joseph have arrived.” This pleased Pharaoh and his ministers. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: load up your animals, leave, and go to the land of Canaan. 18 Then bring your father and your families and come to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the finest products of the land.’
19 “As for you, give them this command: ‘Do this: take wagons with you from the land of Egypt for your children and your wives. Bring your father and come. 20 Do not be concerned about your possessions, for the best of everything in the land of Egypt shall be yours.’ ”
21 The Sons of Jacob Return Home Again.[f] This is what the sons of Israel did. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh ordered, and he gave them provisions for their journey. 22 He gave all of them fresh clothing, but he gave Benjamin three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes. 23 He also sent his father ten donkeys loaded with products of Egypt and ten donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and other food for their father’s trip. 24 He then sent his brothers off and, while they were leaving, he said to them, “Do not fight during the journey.”
25 They left Egypt and returned to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob, 26 and immediately told him, “Joseph is alive; he is the ruler over the whole land of Egypt!” But his heart was cold, for he could not believe them. 27 When they told him all the things Joseph had said to them and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to bring him, their father’s spirit revived. 28 Israel said, “Enough! Joseph, my son, is alive. I will go to see him before I die!”
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul,[a] the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
25 He knew what they were thinking, and he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself cannot survive. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom survive? 27 If it is by Beelzebul that I cast out demons, by whom do your own children cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
29 “Or again, how can anyone break into a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then indeed he can ransack the house.
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore, I tell you that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.[b]
33 A Tree and Its Fruits.[c]“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad. For a tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can your speech be virtuous when you yourselves are evil? For the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. 35 A good man brings forth good things from the good stored up within him, but an evil man brings forth evil things from his store of evil. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to render an account for every careless word they utter. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
38 The Sign of Jonah.[d] Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we would like you to show us a sign.” 39 He replied, “An evil and adulterous[e] generation asks for a sign, but the only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.[f]
41 [g]“On the day of judgment the inhabitants of Nineveh will rise up with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. 42 On the day of judgment the queen of the south will rise up with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the farthest reaches of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
43 New Offensive from the Evil Spirit.[h]“When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions seeking a place to rest, but it finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home from which I departed.’And when it returns, it finds that home empty, swept clean, and put in order. 45 Then it goes off and brings back with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and settle there. As a result, the plight of that person is worse than before. So it will also be with this evil generation.”
46 The True Family of Jesus.[i] While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brethren[j] appeared. They were standing outside, wishing to speak with him. [ 47 Someone told him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to speak with you.”][k] 48 But Jesus replied to that man, “Who is my mother? Who are my brethren?” 49 Then, pointing to his disciples, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brethren. 50 Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother and sister and mother.”
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