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Genesis 46–48

1 So Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

2 God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.”

And he said, “Here I am.”

3 Then He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.”

5 Jacob arose from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father and their little ones and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They took their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him. 7 He brought with him to Egypt his sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants.

8 These were the names of the sons of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who came to Egypt:

Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

9 The sons of Reuben were

Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi.

10 The sons of Simeon were

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.

11 The sons of Levi were

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

12 The sons of Judah were

Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan).

The sons of Perez were

Hezron and Hamul.

13 The sons of Issachar were

Tola, Puah, Job, and Shimron.

14 The sons of Zebulun were

Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

16 And the sons of Gad were

Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

17 The sons of Asher were

Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister.

The sons of Beriah:

Heber and Malkiel.

18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob, sixteen in all.

19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. 20 To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, bore to him.

21 The sons of Benjamin were

Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen in all.

23 The son of Dan was

Hushim.

24 The sons of Naphtali:

Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob, seven in all.

26 All those who came with Jacob to Egypt, who were direct descendants, besides the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All those of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.

28 Now he sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. And they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Joseph readied his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet Israel his father. As soon as he appeared to him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”

31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 The men are shepherds; their work has been to feed livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, because every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

Chapter 47

1 Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.” 2 He took five men from among his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

3 Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for your servants have no pasture for their flocks, because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please allow your servants to dwell in the land of Goshen.”

5 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Have them dwell in the land of Goshen, and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge over my livestock.”

7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years. My days of the years of my life have been few and evil, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the lives of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 10And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and his father’s entire household, according to the number of their children.

13 There was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain that they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.”

16 Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock for that year.

18 When that year was ended, they came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide it from our lord, that our money is all spent. Our lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. Also give us seed, so that we may live and not die, so that the land will not be desolate.”

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian man sold his field because the famine was severe on them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their lands.

23 Then Joseph said to the people, “I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh; here is seed for you so you may sow the land. 24 At the harvest, you must give a fifth part to Pharaoh and four parts will be your own, as seed for the field and for your food and for those of your households and for food for your little ones.”

25 They said, “You have saved our lives. Let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”

26 So Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except from the land of the priests, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

27 Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they had possessions there and grew and became very numerous.

28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so the years of Jacob’s life were one hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When the time drew near when Israel would die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found grace in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

31 And he said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself at the head of his bed.

Chapter 48

1 After these things, Joseph was told, “Your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph is coming to you,” Israel strengthened himself and sat up in the bed.

3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me. 4 And He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you into a multitude of people and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’

5 “Now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 6 Any children you have after them will be yours and will be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to get to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

8 Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Whose are these?”

9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.”

And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”

10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face, but here God has also shown me your children.”

12 So Joseph took them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14 Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

15 He blessed Joseph and said,

“God, before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked,

the God who fed me

all my life long to this day,

16 the angel who redeemed me from all evil,

bless the boys;

let them be called by my name,

and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac;

and let them grow into a multitude

in the midst of the earth.”

17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

19 His father refused and said, “I know it, my son, I know it. He will also become a people, and he will also be great, but truly his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day, saying,

“By you Israel will bless, saying,

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

So he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

21 Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and return you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to you one portion more than your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

Matthew 13:1–30

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Great crowds assembled around Him, so that He went into a boat and sat there. And the whole assembly stood on the shore. 3 Then He told them many things in parables, saying, “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 While he sowed, some seeds fell beside the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 But other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up because they did not have deep soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And because they did not take root, they withered away. 7 Some seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 But other seeds fell into good ground and produced grain: a hundred, sixty, or thirty times as much. 9 Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

10 The disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11 He answered them, “It is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For to him who has, will more be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables:

‘Because they look, but do not see.

And they listen, but they do not hear, neither do they understand.’

14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says:

‘By hearing, you will hear and shall not understand,

and seeing, you will see and shall not perceive;

15 for this people’s heart has grown dull.

Their ears have become hard of hearing,

and they have closed their eyes,

lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts,

and turn, and I should heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.

18 “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 was sown in his heart. This is the one who received seed beside the path. 20 But he who received the seed on rocky ground is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, eventually he falls away. 22 He also who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit. Some produce a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”

24 He told them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 But when the shoots had sprung up and produced fruit, the weeds also appeared.

27 “So the servants of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’

28 “He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’

“The servants said to him, ‘Will you then have us go and gather them up?’

29 “But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the weeds, you pull up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up the weeds first and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”