47 Then Yosef went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers have come from the land of Kena‘an with their flocks, livestock and all their possessions; right now they are in the land of Goshen.” ² He took five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. ³ Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They answered Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our ancestors,” ⁴ and added, “We have come to live in the land, because in the land of Kena‘an there is no place to pasture your servant’s flocks, the famine is so severe there. Therefore, please, let your servants live in the land of Goshen.” ⁵ Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Your father and brothers have come to you, ⁶ and the land of Egypt lies before you. Have your father and brothers live on the best property in the country — let them live in the land of Goshen. Moreover, if you know that some of them are particularly competent, put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷ Yosef then brought in Ya‘akov his father and presented him to Pharaoh, and Ya‘akov blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh asked Ya‘akov, “How old are you?” ⁹ and Ya‘akov replied, “The time of my stay on earth has been 130 years; they have been few and difficult, fewer than the years my ancestors lived.” ¹⁰ Then Ya‘akov blessed Pharaoh and left his presence.

(vii) ¹¹ Yosef found a place for his father and brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the country, in the land of Ra‘amses, as Pharaoh had ordered. ¹² Yosef provided food for his father, his brothers and all his father’s household, taking full care of even the youngest.

¹³ There was no food anywhere, for the famine was very severe, so that both Egypt and Kena‘an grew weak from hunger. ¹⁴ Yosef collected all the money there was in Egypt and Kena‘an in exchange for the grain they bought, and put the money in Pharaoh’s treasury. ¹⁵ When all the money in Egypt had been spent, and likewise in Kena‘an, all the Egyptians approached Yosef and said, “Give us something to eat, even though we have no money; why should we die before your eyes?” ¹⁶ Yosef replied, “Give me your livestock. If you don’t have money, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” ¹⁷ So they brought Yosef their livestock; and Yosef gave them food in exchange for the horses, flocks, cattle and donkeys — all that year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

¹⁸ When that year was over, they approached Yosef again and said to him, “We won’t hide from my lord that all our money is spent, and the herds of livestock belong to my lord. We have nothing left, as my lord can see, but our bodies and our land. 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 enslaved to Pharaoh. But also give us seed to plant, so that we can stay alive and not die, and so that the land won’t become barren.” ²⁰ So Yosef acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, as one by one the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine weighed on them so severely. Thus the land became the property of Pharaoh. ²¹ As for the people, he reduced them to serfdom city by city, from one end of Egypt’s territory to the other. ²² Only the priests’ land did he not acquire, because the priests were entitled to provisions from Pharaoh, and they ate from what Pharaoh provided them; therefore they did not sell their land.

²³ Then Yosef said to the people, “As of today I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you to sow the land. ²⁴ When harvest time comes, you are to give twenty percent to Pharaoh; eighty percent will be yours to keep for seed to plant in the fields, as well as for your food and for that of your households and your little ones.”

(Maftir) ²⁵ They replied, “You have saved our lives! So if it pleases my lord, we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁶ Yosef made it a law for the country of Egypt, valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have twenty percent. Only the property belonging to the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ Isra’el lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. They acquired possessions in it and were productive, and their numbers multiplied greatly.

Haftarah Vayigash: Yechezk’el (Ezekiel) 37:15–28

B’rit Hadashah suggested reading for Parashah Vayigash: Acts 7:9–16 (specifically vv. 13–15)

Parashah 12: Vayechi (He lived) 47:28–50:26

²⁸ Ya‘akov lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; thus Ya‘akov lived to be 147 years old. ²⁹ The time came when Isra’el was approaching death; so he called for his son Yosef and said to him, “If you truly love me, please put your hand under my thigh and pledge that, out of consideration for me, you will not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ Rather, when I sleep with my fathers, you are to carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” He replied, “I will do as you have said.” ³¹ He said, “Swear it to me,” and he swore to him. Then Isra’el bowed down at the head of his bed.

48 Awhile later someone told Yosef that his father was ill. He took with him his two sons, M’nasheh and Efrayim. ² Ya‘akov was told, “Here comes your son Yosef.” Isra’el gathered his strength and sat up in bed. ³ Ya‘akov said to Yosef, “El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Kena‘an and blessed me, ⁴ saying to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous. I will make of you a group of peoples; and I will give this land to your descendants to possess forever.’ ⁵ Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Efrayim and M’nasheh will be as much mine as Re’uven and Shim‘on are. ⁶ The children born to you after them will be yours, but for purposes of inheritance they are to be counted with their older brothers.

⁷ “Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died suddenly, as we were traveling through the land of Kena‘an, while we were still some distance from Efrat; so I buried her there on the way to Efrat (also known as Beit-Lechem).”

⁸ Then Isra’el noticed Yosef’s sons and asked, “Whose are these?” ⁹ Yosef answered his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” Ya‘akov replied, “I want you to bring them here to me, so that I can bless them.” (ii) ¹⁰ Now Isra’el’s eyes were dim with age, so that he could not see. Yosef brought his sons near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ Isra’el said to Yosef, “I never expected to see even you again, but God has allowed me to see your children too!” ¹² Yosef brought them out from between his legs and prostrated himself on the ground. ¹³ Then Yosef took them both, Efrayim in his right hand toward Isra’el’s left hand and M’nasheh in his left hand toward Isra’el’s right hand, and brought them near to him. ¹⁴ But Isra’el put out his right hand and laid it on the head of the younger one, Efrayim, and put his left hand on the head of M’nasheh — he intentionally crossed his hands, even though M’nasheh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ Then he blessed Yosef: “The God in whose presence my fathers Avraham and Yitz’chak lived, the God who has been my own shepherd all my life long to this day, ¹⁶ the angel who has rescued me from all harm, bless these boys. May they remember who I am and what I stand for, and likewise my fathers Avraham and Yitz’chak, who they were and what they stood for. And may they grow into teeming multitudes on the earth.”

(iii) ¹⁷ When Yosef saw that his father was laying his right hand on Efrayim’s head, it displeased him, and he lifted up his father’s hand to remove it from Efrayim’s head and place it instead on M’nasheh’s head. ¹⁸ Yosef said to his father, “Don’t do it that way, my father; for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know that, my son, I know it. He too will become a people, and he too will be great; nevertheless his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will grow into many nations.” ²⁰ Then he added this blessing on them that day: “Isra’el will speak of you in their own blessings by saying, ‘May God make you like Efrayim and M’nasheh.’” Thus he put Efrayim ahead of M’nasheh.

²¹ Isra’el then said to Yosef, “You see that I am dying, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your ancestors. ²² Moreover, I am giving to you a sh’khem [shoulder, ridge, share, city of Sh’khem] more than to your brothers; I captured it from the Emori with my sword and bow.”

19 Yeshua entered Yericho and was passing through, ² when a man named Zakkai appeared who was a chief tax-collector and a wealthy man. ³ He was trying to see who Yeshua was; but, being short, he couldn’t, because of the crowd. ⁴ So he ran on ahead and climbed a fig tree in order to see him, for Yeshua was about to pass that way. ⁵ When he came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zakkai! Hurry! Come down, because I have to stay at your house today!” ⁶ He climbed down as fast as he could and welcomed Yeshua joyfully. ⁷ Everyone who saw it began muttering, “He has gone to be the house-guest of a sinner.” ⁸ But Zakkai stood there and said to the Lord, “Here, Lord, I am giving half of all I own to the poor; and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.” ⁹ Yeshua said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, inasmuch as this man too is a son of Avraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.”

¹¹ While they were listening to this, Yeshua went on to tell a parable, because he was near Yerushalayim, and the people supposed that the Kingdom of God was about to appear at any moment. ¹² Therefore he said, “A nobleman went to a country far away to have himself crowned king and then return. ¹³ Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten manim [a maneh is about three months’ wages] and said to them, ‘Do business with this while I’m away.’ ¹⁴ But his countrymen hated him, and they sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’

¹⁵ “However, he returned, having been made king, and sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned in his business dealings. ¹⁶ The first one came in and said, ‘Sir, your maneh has earned ten more manim.’ ¹⁷ ‘Excellent!’ he said to him. ‘You are a good servant. Because you have been trustworthy in a small matter, I am putting you in charge of ten towns.’ ¹⁸ The second one came and said, ‘Sir, your maneh has earned five more manim; ¹⁹ and to this one he said, ‘You be in charge of five towns.’

²⁰ “Then another one came and said, ‘Sir, here is your maneh. I kept it hidden in a piece of cloth, ²¹ because I was afraid of you — you take out what you didn’t put in, and you harvest what you didn’t plant.’ ²² To him the master said, ‘You wicked servant! I will judge you by your own words! So you knew, did you, that I was a severe man, taking out what I didn’t put in and harvesting what I didn’t plant? ²³ Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? Then, when I returned, I would have gotten it back with interest!’ ²⁴ To those standing by, he said, ‘Take the maneh from him and give it to the one with ten manim.’ ²⁵ They said to him, ‘Sir, he already has ten manim!’ ²⁶ But the master answered, ‘I tell you, everyone who has something will be given more; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away. ²⁷ However, as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and execute them in my presence!’”

²⁸ After saying this, Yeshua went on and began the ascent to Yerushalayim. ²⁹ As he approached Beit-Pagei and Beit-Anyah, by the Mount of Olives, he sent two talmidim, ³⁰ instructing them, “Go into the village ahead; on entering it, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks why you are untying it, tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’” ³² Those who were sent went off and found it just as he had told them. ³³ As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴ and they said, “Because the Lord needs it.” ³⁵ They brought it to Yeshua; and, throwing their robes on the colt, they put Yeshua on it. ³⁶ As he went along, people carpeted the road with their clothing; ³⁷ and as he came near Yerushalayim, where the road descends from the Mount of Olives, the entire band of talmidim began to sing and praise God at the top of their voices for all the powerful works they had seen:

³⁹ Some of the P’rushim in the crowd said to him, “Rabbi! Reprimand your talmidim!” ⁴⁰ But he answered them, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones will shout!”

⁴¹ When Yeshua had come closer and could see the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, “If you only knew today what is needed for shalom! But for now it is hidden from your sight. ⁴³ For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you, encircle you, hem you in on every side, ⁴⁴ and dash you to the ground, you and your children within your walls, leaving not one stone standing on another — and all because you did not recognize your opportunity when God offered it!”

⁴⁵ Then Yeshua entered the Temple grounds and began driving out those doing business there, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “The Tanakh says, ‘My House is to be a house of prayer,’^[b] but you have made it into a den of robbers!”^[c]

⁴⁷ Every day he taught at the Temple. The head cohanim, the Torah-teachers and the leaders of the people tried to find a way of putting an end to him; ⁴⁸ but they couldn’t find any way of doing it, because all the people were hanging onto his every word.