Jacob and His Family Go to Egypt

46 So Israel traveled with all he had to Beersheba. There he gave gifts to the God of his father Isaac. ² God spoke to Israel in special dreams in the night, saying, “Jacob, Jacob.” And Jacob answered, “Here I am.” ³ He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt. For I will make you a great nation there. ⁴ I will go with you to Egypt. I will bring you out again. And Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They took their animals and all the things they owned from the land of Canaan. And they came to Egypt, Jacob and all his children with him, ⁷ his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters. He brought all his children with him to Egypt.

⁸ These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, ⁹ and Reuben’s sons Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

¹⁰ The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, 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, Puvvah, Iob, and Shimron. ¹⁴ The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These are the sons who were born to Leah and Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah. He had thirty-three sons and daughters.

¹⁶ The sons of Gad were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷ The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Jacob and Zilpah, the woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah. She gave birth to sixteen of Jacob’s children.

¹⁹ The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ The sons of Joseph in the land of Egypt were Manasseh and Ephraim. Their mother was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the religious leader of On. ²¹ The sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. ²² These are the sons of Jacob and Rachel, fourteen sons in all. ²³ Dan’s son was Hushim. ²⁴ The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ²⁵ These are the sons of Jacob and Bilhah, the woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. There were seven sons in all.

²⁶ All the people who came to Egypt with Jacob, the children of his own body, were sixty-six people in all. Added to this were the wives of Jacob’s sons. ²⁷ Two sons were born to Joseph in Egypt. So all the people of Jacob’s family when he came to Egypt were seventy.

Jacob Lives in Goshen

²⁸ Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to learn the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. ²⁹ Then Joseph made his wagon ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. When he came to him, they put their arms around each other and cried for a long time. ³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.”

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s family, “I will go and tell Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and my father’s family have come to me from the land of Canaan. ³² And the men are shepherds, for they have taken care of animals. They have brought their flocks and cattle and all they have.’ ³³ When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your work?’ ³⁴ you answer, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle since we were young, both we and our fathers.’ Then he will let you live in the land of Goshen. For the Egyptians look down upon every shepherd.”

47 Then Joseph went to Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and cattle and all they own have come from the land of Canaan. See, they are in the land of Goshen.” ² He took five men from among his brothers, and brought them to Pharaoh. ³ Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your work?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.” ⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land, for there is no field with food for our flocks. The time without food is hard in the land of Canaan. So now we ask of you, let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is in front of you. Have your father and your brothers live in the best of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if you know any able men among them, put my cattle in their care.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought his father Jacob to Pharaoh. Jacob prayed that good would come to Pharaoh. ⁸ And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” ⁹ Jacob answered Pharaoh, “I have traveled on this earth for 130 years. The years of my life have been few and full of sorrow, and less than the years that my fathers lived.” ¹⁰ Then Jacob prayed that good would come to Pharaoh, and went away from him.

¹¹ So Joseph made a place for his father and his brothers. He gave them a part of the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had told him. ¹² Joseph gave food to his father and his brothers and all his father’s family, for the needs of their children.

No Food Anywhere but in Egypt

¹³ Now there was no food in the land for the time without food was very hard. So the people in the land of both Egypt and Canaan became weak because of hunger. ¹⁴ So Joseph gathered all the money that was found in Egypt and Canaan for the grain they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵ When the money was gone from the lands of Egypt and Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die in front of you? For we have no more money.”

¹⁶ Then Joseph said, “Give your cattle. I will give you food in trade for your cattle, because your money is gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their animals to Joseph. And Joseph gave them food in trade for the horses and flocks and cattle and donkeys. He fed them that year in trade for their animals.

¹⁸ When that year ended, they came to him the next year. They said, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all gone. And the cattle belong to my lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹ Why should we die in front of you and our lands be wasted? Buy us and our land in trade for food. We and our land will work for Pharaoh. Give us seed, so that we may live and not die, and so the land will not be wasted.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. For every Egyptian sold his field, because the time without food was hard for them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ He had the people move to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other, to work for Pharaoh. ²² Only the land of the religious leaders he did not buy. For the religious leaders received money from Pharaoh. They lived on the money Pharaoh gave them. So they did not sell their land.

²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “See, today I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you to plant in the fields. ²⁴ At gathering time, you must give a fifth part to Pharaoh. Keep the rest to have seeds for the field, and to feed yourselves and your children and those of your houses.”

²⁵ So they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the eyes of my lord. We will be Pharaoh’s servants.” ²⁶ Joseph made it a law in the land of Egypt that Pharaoh should have the fifth part. It is a law to this day. Only the land of the religious leaders did not become Pharaoh’s.

Jacob’s Last Wish

²⁷ Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen. They became richer there, and had children, and grew to a very large number. ²⁸ Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So Jacob had lived 147 years in all. ²⁹ When the time came for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph. He said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, give me your promise to be kind and faithful to me. I ask of you, do not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ But let me lie down with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” And Joseph said, “I will do as you have said.” ³¹ Jacob said, “Promise me.” So Joseph gave him his promise. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.

Jacob and Joseph’s Sons

48 After this Joseph was told, “See, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. ² When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel gathered his strength and sat up in bed. ³ Then Jacob said to Joseph, “The All-powerful God showed Himself to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and He brought good to me. ⁴ He said to me, ‘See, I will give you many children. I will make you a group of nations. And I will give this land to your children and to your children’s children after you. It will belong to them forever.’ ⁵ Now your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came to you here, are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶ The children born to you after them will be yours. They will be called by the names of their brothers in their share of what the family is to receive. ⁷ For when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by my side in the land of Canaan before we came to Ephrath. I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).” ⁸ When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹ Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So Israel said, “Bring them to me, so I may pray that good will come to them.”

¹⁰ Now Israel’s eyes had become weak from being old, and he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him. And Israel kissed them and put his arms around them. ¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face. But see, God has let me see your children also.” ¹² Then Joseph took them from his knees, and bowed to the ground. ¹³ Then taking Ephraim with his right hand, Joseph put him at Israel’s left side. And with his left hand he put Manasseh at Israel’s right side, placing them near him. ¹⁴ But Israel put out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, the younger son. And he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands. But Manasseh was the first-born. ¹⁵ Then he prayed that good would come to Joseph, and said, “The God with Whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God Who has been my Shepherd all my life to this day, ¹⁶ the Angel Who has set me free from all sin, bring good to the boys. May my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac live on in them. May they become a great nation on the earth.”

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was not pleased. He took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father, for this one is the first-born. Place your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father would not, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He will become a nation also, and he also will be great. But his younger brother will be greater than he. His children and their children’s children will become many nations.” ²⁰ Then he prayed that day that good would come to them. He said, “By you Israel will pray that good will come, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’” So he placed Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “See, I am about to die. But God will be with you. He will return you to the land of your fathers. ²² I have given you more than your brothers. I have given you the side of the mountain that I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

The Picture-Stories of the Gold Buried in the Field and of Buying a Pearl

⁴⁴ “The holy nation of heaven is like a box of riches buried in a field. A man found it and then hid it again. In his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the holy nation of heaven is like a man who buys and sells. He is looking for good pearls. ⁴⁶ When he finds one good pearl worth much money, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.

The Picture-Story of the Fish Net

⁴⁷ “The holy nation of heaven is like a big net which was let down into the sea. It gathered fish of every kind. ⁴⁸ When it was full, they took it to the shore. They sat down and put the good fish into pails. They threw the bad fish away. ⁴⁹ It will be like this in the end of the world. Angels will come and take the sinful people from among those who are right with God. ⁵⁰ They will put the sinful people into a stove of fire where there will be loud crying and grinding of teeth.”

⁵¹ Jesus asked them, “Have you understood all these picture-stories?” They said, “Yes, Lord!” ⁵² He said to them, “Every teacher of the Law who has become a follower of the holy nation of heaven is like a man who owns his house. He takes new and old riches from his house.”

They Do Not Believe in Jesus in Nazareth ^(A)

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these picture-stories, He went away from there. ⁵⁴ He came to His own town and taught them in their places of worship. They were surprised and wondered, saying, “Where did this Man get this wisdom? How can He do these powerful works? ⁵⁵ Is not this the son of the man who makes things from wood? Is not Mary His mother? Are not James and Joseph and Simon and Judas His brothers? ⁵⁶ And are not all His sisters here? Then where did He get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they were ashamed of Him and turned away because of Him. Jesus said to them, “One who speaks for God is shown no respect in his own town and in his own house.”

⁵⁸ He did not do many powerful works there because they did not put their trust in Him.

John the Baptist Is Put in Prison ^(B)

14 At that time King Herod heard much about Jesus. ² He said to his helpers, “This must be John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead. That is why these powerful works are done by him.” ³ For Herod had taken John and put him in prison. It was because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had said to him, “It is against the Law for you to have her.” ⁵ He would have killed John but he was afraid of the people. The people thought John was one who spoke for God.

John the Baptist Is Killed ^(C)

⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced in front of them. Herod was made happy by her. ⁷ He promised he would give her anything she asked. ⁸ Because her mother told her to do it, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist on a plate.” ⁹ The king was sorry. But he said for it to be given because he had promised and because of those who were eating with him. ¹⁰ He sent to the prison and had John’s head cut off. ¹¹ It was brought in on a plate and given to the girl. She brought it to her mother. ¹² Then the followers of John came and took his body and buried it. They went and told Jesus.