1
When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why don't you do something?
2
I hear that there is grain in Egypt; go there and buy some to keep us from starving to death."
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So Joseph's ten half brothers went to buy grain in Egypt,
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but Jacob did not send Joseph's full brother Benjamin with them, because he was afraid that something might happen to him.
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The sons of Jacob came with others to buy grain, because there was famine in the land of Canaan.
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Joseph, as governor of the land of Egypt, was selling grain to people from all over the world. So Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
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When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he acted as if he did not know them. He asked them harshly, "Where do you come from?" "We have come from Canaan to buy food," they answered.
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Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
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He remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them and said, "You are spies; you have come to find out where our country is weak."
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"No, sir," they answered. "We have come as your slaves, to buy food.
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We are all brothers. We are not spies, sir, we are honest men."
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Joseph said to them, "No! You have come to find out where our country is weak."
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They said, "We were twelve brothers in all, sir, sons of the same man in the land of Canaan. One brother is dead, and the youngest is now with our father."
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"It is just as I said," Joseph answered. "You are spies.
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This is how you will be tested: I swear by the name of the king that you will never leave unless your youngest brother comes here.
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One of you must go and get him. The rest of you will be kept under guard until the truth of what you say can be tested. Otherwise, as sure as the king lives, you are spies."
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With that, he put them in prison for three days.
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On the third day Joseph said to them, "I am a God-fearing man, and I will spare your lives on one condition.
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To prove that you are honest, one of you will stay in the prison where you have been kept; the rest of you may go and take back to your starving families the grain that you have bought.
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Then you must bring your youngest brother to me. This will prove that you have been telling the truth, and I will not put you to death." They agreed to this
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and said to one another, "Yes, now we are suffering the consequences of what we did to our brother; we saw the great trouble he was in when he begged for help, but we would not listen. That is why we are in this trouble now."
22
Reuben said, "I told you not to harm the boy, but you wouldn't listen. And now we are being paid back for his death."
23
Joseph understood what they said, but they did not know it, because they had been speaking to him through an interpreter.
24
Joseph left them and began to cry. When he was able to speak again, he came back, picked out Simeon, and had him tied up in front of them.
25
Joseph gave orders to fill his brothers' packs with grain, to put each man's money back in his sack, and to give them food for the trip. This was done.
26
The brothers loaded their donkeys with the grain they had bought, and then they left.
27
At the place where they spent the night, one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey and found his money at the top of the sack.
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"My money has been returned to me," he called to his brothers. "Here it is in my sack!" Their hearts sank, and in fear they asked one another, "What has God done to us?"
29
When they came to their father Jacob in Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them:
30
"The governor of Egypt spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying against his country.
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'We are not spies,' we answered, 'we are honest men.
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We were twelve brothers in all, sons of the same father. One brother is dead, and the youngest is still in Canaan with our father.'
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The man answered, 'This is how I will find out if you are honest men: One of you will stay with me; the rest will take grain for your starving families and leave.
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Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but honest men; I will give your brother back to you, and you can stay here and trade.' "
35
Then when they emptied out their sacks, every one of them found his bag of money; and when they saw the money, they and their father Jacob were afraid.
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Their father said to them, "Do you want to make me lose all my children? Joseph is gone; Simeon is gone; and now you want to take away Benjamin. I am the one who suffers!"
37
Reuben said to his father, "If I do not bring Benjamin back to you, you can kill my two sons. Put him in my care, and I will bring him back."
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But Jacob said, "My son cannot go with you; his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. Something might happen to him on the way. I am an old man, and the sorrow you would cause me would kill me."
1
The famine in Canaan got worse,
2
and when the family of Jacob had eaten all the grain which had been brought from Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Go back and buy a little food for us."
3
Judah said to him, "The man sternly warned us that we would not be admitted to his presence unless we had our brother with us.
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If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go and buy food for you.
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If you are not willing, we will not go, because the man told us we would not be admitted to his presence unless our brother was with us."
6
Jacob said, "Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the man that you had another brother?"
7
They answered, "The man kept asking about us and our family, 'Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?' We had to answer his questions. How could we know that he would tell us to bring our brother with us?"
8
Judah said to his father, "Send the boy with me, and we will leave at once. Then none of us will starve to death.
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I will pledge my own life, and you can hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you safe and sound, I will always bear the blame.
10
If we had not waited so long, we could have been there and back twice by now."
11
Their father said to them, "If that is how it has to be, then take the best products of the land in your packs as a present for the governor: a little resin, a little honey, spices, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
12
Take with you also twice as much money, because you must take back the money that was returned in the top of your sacks. Maybe it was a mistake.
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Take your brother and return at once.
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May Almighty God cause the man to have pity on you, so that he will give Benjamin and your other brother back to you. As for me, if I must lose my children, I must lose them."
15
So the brothers took the gifts and twice as much money, and set out for Egypt with Benjamin. There they presented themselves to Joseph.
16
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant in charge of his house, "Take these men to my house. They are going to eat with me at noon, so kill an animal and prepare it."
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The servant did as he was commanded and took the brothers to Joseph's house.
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As they were being brought to the house, they were afraid and thought, "We are being brought here because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time. They will suddenly attack us, take our donkeys, and make us his slaves."
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So at the door of the house, they said to the servant in charge,
20
"If you please, sir, we came here once before to buy food.
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When we set up camp on the way home, we opened our sacks, and each man found his money in the top of his sack---every bit of it. We have brought it back to you.
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We have also brought some more money with us to buy more food. We do not know who put our money back in our sacks."
23
The servant said, "Don't worry. Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks for you. I received your payment." Then he brought Simeon to them.
24
The servant took the brothers into the house. He gave them water so that they could wash their feet, and he fed their donkeys.
25
They got their gifts ready to present to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had been told that they were to eat with him.
26
When Joseph got home, they took the gifts into the house to him and bowed down to the ground before him.
27
He asked about their health and then said, "You told me about your old father---how is he? Is he still alive and well?"
28
They answered, "Your humble servant, our father, is still alive and well." And they knelt and bowed down before him.
29
When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, he said, "So this is your youngest brother, the one you told me about. God bless you, my son."
30
Then Joseph left suddenly, because his heart was full of tender feelings for his brother. He was about to break down, so he went to his room and cried.
31
After he had washed his face, he came out, and controlling himself, he ordered the meal to be served.
32
Joseph was served at one table and his brothers at another. The Egyptians who were eating there were served separately, because they considered it beneath their dignity to eat with Hebrews.
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The brothers had been seated at the table, facing Joseph, in the order of their age from the oldest to the youngest. When they saw how they had been seated, they looked at one another in amazement.
34
Food was served to them from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was served five times as much as the rest of them. So they ate and drank with Joseph until they were drunk.
1
Listen to my words, O LORD, and hear my sighs.
2
Listen to my cry for help, my God and king! I pray to you, O LORD;
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you hear my voice in the morning; at sunrise I offer my prayer and wait for your answer.
4
You are not a God who is pleased with wrongdoing; you allow no evil in your presence.
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You cannot stand the sight of the proud; you hate all wicked people.
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You destroy all liars and despise violent, deceitful people.
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But because of your great love I can come into your house; I can worship in your holy Temple and bow down to you in reverence.
8
LORD, I have so many enemies! Lead me to do your will; make your way plain for me to follow.
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What my enemies say can never be trusted; they only want to destroy. Their words are flattering and smooth, but full of deadly deceit.
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Condemn and punish them, O God; may their own plots cause their ruin. Drive them out of your presence because of their many sins and their rebellion against you.
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But all who find safety in you will rejoice; they can always sing for joy. Protect those who love you; because of you they are truly happy.
12
You bless those who obey you, LORD; your love protects them like a shield.
1
Jesus said to his disciples, "Things that make people fall into sin are bound to happen, but how terrible for the one who makes them happen!
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It would be better for him if a large millstone were tied around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
3
So watch what you do! "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
4
If he sins against you seven times in one day, and each time he comes to you saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."
5
The apostles said to the Lord, "Make our faith greater."
6
The Lord answered, "If you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea!' and it would obey you.
7
"Suppose one of you has a servant who is plowing or looking after the sheep. When he comes in from the field, do you tell him to hurry along and eat his meal?
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Of course not! Instead, you say to him, 'Get my supper ready, then put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may have your meal.'
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The servant does not deserve thanks for obeying orders, does he?
10
It is the same with you; when you have done all you have been told to do, say, 'We are ordinary servants; we have only done our duty.' "
11
As Jesus made his way to Jerusalem, he went along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
12
He was going into a village when he was met by ten men suffering from a dreaded skin disease. They stood at a distance
13
and shouted, "Jesus! Master! Have pity on us!"
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Jesus saw them and said to them, "Go and let the priests examine you." On the way they were made clean.
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When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice.
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He threw himself to the ground at Jesus' feet and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan.
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Jesus spoke up, "There were ten who were healed; where are the other nine?
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Why is this foreigner the only one who came back to give thanks to God?"
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And Jesus said to him, "Get up and go; your faith has made you well."
20
Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, "The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen.
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No one will say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!'; because the Kingdom of God is within you."
22
Then he said to the disciples, "The time will come when you will wish you could see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
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There will be those who will say to you, 'Look, over there!' or, 'Look, over here!' But don't go out looking for it.
24
As the lightning flashes across the sky and lights it up from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
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But first he must suffer much and be rejected by the people of this day.
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As it was in the time of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man.
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Everybody kept on eating and drinking, and men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat and the flood came and killed them all.
28
It will be as it was in the time of Lot. Everybody kept on eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
29
On the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and killed them all.
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That is how it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
31
"On that day someone who is on the roof of a house must not go down into the house to get any belongings; in the same way anyone who is out in the field must not go back to the house.
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Those who try to save their own life will lose it; those who lose their life will save it.
34
On that night, I tell you, there will be two people sleeping in the same bed: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind.
35
Two women will be grinding meal together: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind."
37
The disciples asked him, "Where, Lord?" Jesus answered, "Wherever there is a dead body, the vultures will gather."
