1
So Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king. He told him, "My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own. They are now in the region of Goshen."
2
He then presented his brothers to the king.
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The king asked them, "What is your occupation?" "We are shepherds, sir, just as our ancestors were," they answered.
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"We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen."
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The king said to Joseph, "Now that your father and your brothers have arrived,
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the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the region of Goshen, the best part of the land. And if there are any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock."
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Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing,
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and the king asked him, "How old are you?"
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Jacob answered, "My life of wandering has lasted a hundred and thirty years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings."
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Jacob gave the king a farewell blessing and left.
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Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best of the land near the city of Rameses, as the king had commanded.
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Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all the rest of his father's family, including the very youngest.
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The famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere, and the people of Egypt and Canaan became weak with hunger.
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As they bought grain, Joseph collected all the money and took it to the palace.
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When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was spent, the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food! Don't let us die. Do something! Our money is all gone."
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Joseph answered, "Bring your livestock; I will give you food in exchange for it if your money is all gone."
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So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock.
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The following year they came to him and said, "We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands.
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Don't let us die. Do something! Don't let our fields be deserted. Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We will be the king's slaves, and he will own our land. Give us grain to keep us alive and seed so that we can plant our fields."
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Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian was forced to sell his land, because the famine was so severe; and all the land became the king's property.
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Joseph made slaves of the people from one end of Egypt to the other.
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The only land he did not buy was the land that belonged to the priests. They did not have to sell their lands, because the king gave them an allowance to live on.
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Joseph said to the people, "You see, I have now bought you and your lands for the king. Here is seed for you to sow in your fields.
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At the time of harvest you must give one-fifth to the king. You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families."
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They answered, "You have saved our lives; you have been good to us, sir, and we will be the king's slaves."
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So Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that one-fifth of the harvest should belong to the king. This law still remains in force today. Only the lands of the priests did not become the king's property.
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The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen, where they became rich and had many children.
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Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, until he was a hundred and forty-seven years old.
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When the time drew near for him to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "Place your hand between my thighs and make a solemn vow that you will not bury me in Egypt.
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I want to be buried where my fathers are; carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried." Joseph answered, "I will do as you say."
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Jacob said, "Make a vow that you will." Joseph made the vow, and Jacob gave thanks there on his bed.
1
Some time later Joseph was told that his father was ill. So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see Jacob.
2
When Jacob was told that his son Joseph had come to see him, he gathered his strength and sat up in bed.
3
Jacob said to Joseph, "Almighty God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.
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He said to me, 'I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession forever.' "
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Jacob continued, "Joseph, your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came here, belong to me; Ephraim and Manasseh are just as much my sons as Reuben and Simeon.
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If you have any more sons, they will not be considered mine; the inheritance they get will come through Ephraim and Manasseh.
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I am doing this because of your mother Rachel. To my great sorrow she died in the land of Canaan, not far from Ephrath, as I was returning from Mesopotamia. I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath." (Ephrath is now known as Bethlehem.)
8
When Jacob saw Joseph's sons, he asked, "Who are these boys?"
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Joseph answered, "These are my sons, whom God has given me here in Egypt." Jacob said, "Bring them to me so that I may bless them."
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Jacob's eyesight was failing because of his age, and he could not see very well. Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged them and kissed them.
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Jacob said to Joseph, "I never expected to see you again, and now God has even let me see your children."
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Then Joseph took them from Jacob's lap and bowed down before him with his face to the ground.
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Joseph put Ephraim at Jacob's left and Manasseh at his right.
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But Jacob crossed his hands, and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, even though he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, who was the older.
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Then he blessed Joseph: "May God, whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac served, bless these boys! May God, who has led me to this very day, bless them!
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May the angel, who has rescued me from all harm, bless them! May my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac live on through these boys! May they have many children, many descendants!"
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Joseph was upset when he saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim's head; so he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to the head of Manasseh.
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He said to his father, "Not that way, father. This is the older boy; put your right hand on his head."
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His father refused, saying, "I know, son, I know. Manasseh's descendants will also become a great people. But his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become great nations."
20
So he blessed them that day, saying, "The Israelites will use your names when they pronounce blessings. They will say, 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.' " In this way Jacob put Ephraim before Manasseh.
21
Then Jacob said to Joseph, "As you see, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your ancestors.
22
It is to you and not to your brothers that I am giving Shechem, that fertile region which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."
1
Why are you so far away, O LORD? Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?
2
The wicked are proud and persecute the poor; catch them in the traps they have made.
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The wicked are proud of their evil desires; the greedy curse and reject the LORD.
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The wicked do not care about the LORD; in their pride they think that God doesn't matter.
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The wicked succeed in everything. They cannot understand God's judgments; they sneer at their enemies.
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They say to themselves, "We will never fail; we will never be in trouble."
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Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats; they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.
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They hide themselves in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They spy on their helpless victims;
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they wait in their hiding place like lions. They lie in wait for the poor; they catch them in their traps and drag them away.
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The helpless victims lie crushed; brute strength has defeated them.
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The wicked say to themselves, "God doesn't care! He has closed his eyes and will never see me!"
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O LORD, punish those wicked people! Remember those who are suffering!
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How can the wicked despise God and say to themselves, "He will not punish me"?
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But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering and are always ready to help. The helpless commit themselves to you; you have always helped the needy.
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Break the power of wicked and evil people; punish them for the wrong they have done until they do it no more.
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The LORD is king forever and ever. Those who worship other gods will vanish from his land.
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You will listen, O LORD, to the prayers of the lowly; you will give them courage.
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You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans; you will judge in their favor, so that mortal men may cause terror no more.
1
Jesus went on into Jericho and was passing through.
2
There was a chief tax collector there named Zacchaeus, who was rich.
3
He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was a little man and could not see Jesus because of the crowd.
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So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, who was going to pass that way.
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When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to Zacchaeus, "Hurry down, Zacchaeus, because I must stay in your house today."
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Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed him with great joy.
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All the people who saw it started grumbling, "This man has gone as a guest to the home of a sinner!"
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Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Listen, sir! I will give half my belongings to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay back four times as much."
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Jesus said to him, "Salvation has come to this house today, for this man, also, is a descendant of Abraham.
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The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
11
While the people were listening to this, Jesus continued and told them a parable. He was now almost at Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God was just about to appear.
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So he said, "There was once a man of high rank who was going to a country far away to be made king, after which he planned to come back home.
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Before he left, he called his ten servants and gave them each a gold coin and told them, 'See what you can earn with this while I am gone.'
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Now, his own people hated him, and so they sent messengers after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.'
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"The man was made king and came back. At once he ordered his servants to appear before him, in order to find out how much they had earned.
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The first one came and said, 'Sir, I have earned ten gold coins with the one you gave me.'
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'Well done,' he said; 'you are a good servant! Since you were faithful in small matters, I will put you in charge of ten cities.'
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The second servant came and said, 'Sir, I have earned five gold coins with the one you gave me.'
19
To this one he said, 'You will be in charge of five cities.'
20
Another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it hidden in a handkerchief.
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I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take what is not yours and reap what you did not plant.'
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He said to him, 'You bad servant! I will use your own words to condemn you! You know that I am a hard man, taking what is not mine and reaping what I have not planted.
23
Well, then, why didn't you put my money in the bank? Then I would have received it back with interest when I returned.'
24
Then he said to those who were standing there, 'Take the gold coin away from him and give it to the servant who has ten coins.'
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But they said to him, 'Sir, he already has ten coins!'
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'I tell you,' he replied, 'that to those who have something, even more will be given; but those who have nothing, even the little that they have will be taken away from them.
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Now, as for those enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and kill them in my presence!' "
28
After Jesus said this, he went on in front of them toward Jerusalem.
29
As he came near Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead
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with these instructions: "Go to the village there ahead of you; as you go in, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
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If someone asks you why you are untying it, tell him that the Master needs it."
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They went on their way and found everything just as Jesus had told them.
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As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying it?"
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"The Master needs it," they answered,
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and they took the colt to Jesus. Then they threw their cloaks over the animal and helped Jesus get on.
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As he rode on, people spread their cloaks on the road.
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When he came near Jerusalem, at the place where the road went down the Mount of Olives, the large crowd of his disciples began to thank God and praise him in loud voices for all the great things that they had seen:
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"God bless the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory to God!"
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Then some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. "Teacher," they said, "command your disciples to be quiet!"
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Jesus answered, "I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting."
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He came closer to the city, and when he saw it, he wept over it,
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saying, "If you only knew today what is needed for peace! But now you cannot see it!
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The time will come when your enemies will surround you with barricades, blockade you, and close in on you from every side.
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They will completely destroy you and the people within your walls; not a single stone will they leave in its place, because you did not recognize the time when God came to save you!"
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Then Jesus went into the Temple and began to drive out the merchants,
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saying to them, "It is written in the Scriptures that God said, 'My Temple will be a house of prayer.' But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves!"
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Every day Jesus taught in the Temple. The chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the leaders of the people wanted to kill him,
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but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people kept listening to him, not wanting to miss a single word.
