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First Reading: Genesis Chapter 47 and 48Genesis 47
47:1 Joseph Is Governor of Egypt
Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers,
their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land
of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen." 2 And he took five
men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Then Pharaoh said
to his brothers,"What is your occupation?"
And they said to Pharaoh,"Your servants are shepherds, both we and also
our fathers." 4 And they said to Pharaoh,"We have come to dwell in
the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine
is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell
in the land of Goshen."
5 Then 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 brothers
dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if
you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my
livestock."
7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before 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; few and evil have been the days of the years of
my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of
my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." 10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh,
and went out from before Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession
in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh
had commanded. 12 Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his
father's household with bread, according to the number in their families.
13 Joseph Deals with the Famine
Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so
that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.
14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt
and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought
the money into Pharaoh's house.
15 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan,
all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us bread, for why should
we die in your presence? For the money has failed."
16 Then Joseph said, "Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for
your livestock, if the money is gone." 17 So they brought their livestock
to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks,
the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in
exchange for all their livestock that year.
18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him,
"We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my 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 bread, and we and our land will be servants of
Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be
desolate."
20 Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the
Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land
became Pharaoh's. 21 And as for the people, he moved them into the 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 rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and
they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell
their lands.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land
this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
24 And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to
Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food,
for those of your households and as food for your little ones."
25 So they said, "You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight
of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants." 26 And Joseph made it a
law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth,
except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's.
27 Joseph's Vow to Jacob
So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had
possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob lived in
the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob's life was one hundred
and forty-seven years. 29 When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called
his son Joseph and said to him, "Now if I have found favor 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; you shall carry
me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place."
And he said, "I will do as you have said."
31 Then he said, "Swear to me." And he swore to him. So Israel bowed
himself on the head of the bed.
Genesis 48
48:1 Jacob Blesses Joseph's Sons
(Heb 11:21)
Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, "Indeed your
father is sick"; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And Jacob was told, "Look, your son Joseph is coming to you"; and
Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. 3 Then Jacob said to Joseph:
"God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
4 and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I
will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants
after you as an everlasting possession.' 5 And 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 Your offspring
whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of
their brothers in their inheritance. 7 But as for me, when I came from Padan,
Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a
little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath
(that is, Bethlehem)."
8 Then Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, "Who are these?"
9 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. Then Joseph
brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said
to Joseph,"I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also
shown me your offspring!"
12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his
face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand
toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right
hand, and brought them near him. 14 Then 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, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he
blessed Joseph, and said:
"God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,The God who has fed
me all my life long to this day, 16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil,Bless
the lads;Let my name be named upon them,And the name of my fathers Abraham and
Isaac;And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim,
it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's
head to Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my
father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
19 But his father refused and said,"I know, my son, I know. He also shall
become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall
be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."
20 So he blessed them that day, saying,"By you Israel will bless, saying,
'May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!'" And thus he set Ephraim
before Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with
you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given
to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite
with my sword and my bow."
Matthew 21
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