Old/New Testament
Chapter 49
Jacob’s Predictions for His Sons.[a] 1 Jacob then summoned his sons and said, “Gather together so that I can tell you what will happen to you in future days.
2 “Gather and listen, sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel, your father.
3 “Reuben, you are the firstborn,
my strength and the firstfruit of my might,
excelling in dignity and excelling in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence
because you invaded your father’s bed
and defiled my couch
upon which you climbed.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
their swords are implements of violence.
6 Let my soul not come into their council
nor my heart into their assembly,
for they have killed men with anger
and they maimed oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you.
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies.
The sons of your father shall bow down before you.
9 A young lion is Judah.
From the prey, my son, you have turned.
He crouches like a lion,
and like a lioness;
who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah
nor the mace from between his feet,
until it comes to whom it belongs,
and the obedience of the peoples is his.
11 He tethers his colt to the vine,
and to a choice vine the colt of his donkey.
He washes his garments in wine,
and in the blood of the grapes his clothes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun shall dwell along the sea,
and he shall be a haven to ships
and shall border upon Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a strong-boned donkey
crouching between two saddlebags.
15 He saw that his resting place was good
and his land was pleasant
so he bent down his shoulder to bear the burden
and became a toiling servant.
16 “Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be like a serpent by the wayside,
an adder by the path,
that bites the heels of horses
and its horsemen fall backward.
18 “I hope in your salvation, O Lord.
19 “Gad shall be attacked by raiders,
but he shall raid them in return.
20 “Asher’s food is rich,
and he shall provide delicacies for the king.
21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose;
he brings forth beautiful words.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches run over the wall.
23 They have grieved him and attacked him,
archers have persecuted him,
24 but his bow is strong,
and the hands of his arms were made strong
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
25 From the God of your father who helps you
and God Almighty
who blesses you with blessings from the heavens above,
blessings of the deep that lie below,
blessings of breasts and womb.
26 The blessings of your father,
are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains,
the boundaries of the everlasting hills;
may they come upon the head of Joseph
upon the crown of the head of the prince among his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
In the morning he devours his prey;
in the evening he divides his spoil.”
28 All these make up the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father told them, blessing them. He blessed each one with his own blessing.
29 The Death of Jacob. Then he gave this command: “I am about to be reunited with my ancestors. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is found in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre in the land of Canaan. This is the cave that Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, as his burial ground. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there they buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it used to belong to the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob had finished giving this command to his sons, he drew back his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was reunited with his ancestors.
Chapter 50
1 Joseph threw himself on the face of his father. He wept upon him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph ordered his doctors to embalm Israel. 3 This took forty days, the time it takes to embalm. The Egyptians mourned for him for seventy days.
4 When the days of mourning were over, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh. He said, “If I have found favor in your sight, I wish to speak these words into the ears of Pharaoh: 5 My father made me take an oath: ‘Behold, I am about to die. Bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.’ May I go to bury my father and return?”
6 Pharaoh answered, “Go and bury your father as you have vowed to do.”
7 Joseph went to bury his father, and all the ministers of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as the household of Joseph and his brothers and the household of his father went with him. Only the children, flocks, and herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 Even the war chariots and the charioteers formed an imposing caravan.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, which is on the other side of the Jordan, they performed a great and solemn ritual mourning, and Joseph did seven days of mourning for his father. 11 The Canaanites living in that land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad and said, “It is a solemn funeral for the Egyptians.” Because of this they called the place Abel-mizraim, and it is on the other side of the Jordan.
12 Jacob’s sons did what he had commanded them to do for him. 13 They brought him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, the field that Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite to be his burial place and that faces Mamre. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt together with his brothers and those who had gone with him to bury his father.
15 Joseph’s Mission and His Death.[b] Now the brothers of Joseph began to be afraid because their father was dead, and they said, “Who knows if Joseph will not treat us like enemies and pay us back for the evil things we have done to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father, before he died, gave this command: 17 ‘Say to Joseph: Forgive the offense of your brothers and their sin for the evil that they have done against you. Forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.’ ” Joseph cried while they were speaking to him.
18 His brothers went up and bowed to the ground before him and said, “Behold your slaves.”
19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear. Am I God? 20 You intended to do evil to me, but God decided to make it serve a good, to fulfill that which today has come true: to keep alive a numerous people. 21 Therefore, do not fear. I will provide food for you and your children.” In this way, he consoled them and encouraged them.
22 Joseph and the family of his father lived in Egypt. He lived for one hundred and ten years. 23 Thus, Joseph saw the sons of Ephraim up to the third generation and also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, who was born upon the knees of Joseph.
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will come to visit you and will bring you out of this land to the land that he promised with an oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 25 Joseph had the sons of Israel swear an oath saying, “God will surely come to visit you, and then you are to carry my bones away with you.”
26 Joseph died when he was one hundred and ten years old. He was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.[c]
31 The Parable of the Mustard Seed.[a] He proposed still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of plants and becomes a tree large enough for the birds to come and make nests in its branches.”[b]
33 The Parable of the Yeast.[c] And he offered them yet another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until it was completely leavened.”
34 The Use of Parables.[d] Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables. Indeed he never spoke to them except in parables. 35 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth to speak in parables;
I will proclaim what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
36 Explanation of the Parable of the Weeds.[e] Then he dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are angels.
40 “Just as the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the world. 41 The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all who cause sin and all whose deeds are evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
44 The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.[f]“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure buried in a field, which a man found and buried again. Then in his joy he went off and sold everything he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went off and sold everything he had and bought it.
47 The Parable of the Net.[g]“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea where it caught fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, they hauled it ashore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish into baskets but discarded those that were worthless. 49 Thus will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go forth and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 Conclusion.[h]“Have you understood all this?” he asked. They answered, “Yes.” 52 Then he said to them, “Therefore, every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings forth from his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
The Authentic Faith of Those Converted[i]
Jesus Encounters Mixed Receptions[j]
53 Jesus Is Rejected at Nazareth.[k] When Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from that district.
54 He came to his hometown, and he began to teach the people in the synagogue. They were astonished and wondered, “Where did this man get such wisdom and these mighty deeds? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? Are not James and Joseph and Simon and Judas his brethren? 56 And are not all his sisters here with us? Where then did this man get all this?” 57 And so they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is always treated with honor except in his hometown and in his own house.” 58 And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.
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