Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen

47 Then ^(A)Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of ^(B)Goshen.” ² He took five men from among his brothers and ^(C)presented them to Pharaoh. ³ Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “^(D)What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are ^(E)shepherds, both we and our fathers.” ⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “^(F)We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for ^(G)the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants ^[a](H)live in the land of Goshen.” ⁵ Then Pharaoh said to ^[b]Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is ^[c]at your disposal; ^[d]settle your father and your brothers in ^(I)the best of the land, let them ^[e]live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any ^(J)capable men among them, then ^[f]put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and ^[g]presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob ^(K)blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many ^[h]years have you lived?” ⁹ So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The ^[i](L)years of my sojourning are one hundred and ^[j]thirty; few and ^[k]unpleasant have been the ^[l]years of my life, nor have they ^[m]attained ^(M)the ^[n]years ^[o]that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning.” ¹⁰ And Jacob ^(N)blessed Pharaoh, and went out from ^[p]his presence. ¹¹ So Joseph ^[q]settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in ^(O)the best of the land, in the land of ^(P)Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered. ¹² Joseph ^(Q)provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with ^[r]food, according to their little ones.

¹³ Now there was no ^[s]food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that ^(R)the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ^14 (S)Joseph gathered 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 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph ^[t]and said, “Give us ^[u]food, for ^(T)why should we die in your presence? For our money ^[v]is gone.” ¹⁶ Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money ^[w]is gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them ^[x]food in exchange for the horses and the ^[y]flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he ^[z]fed them with ^[aa]food in exchange for all their livestock ^[ab]that year. ¹⁸ When that year was ended, they came to him the ^[ac]next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the ^[ad]cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left ^[ae]for my lord except our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for ^[af]food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

Result of the Famine

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for ^[ag]every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ As for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other. ²² Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they ^[ah]lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land. ²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land. ^24 [ai]At the harvest you shall give a ^(U)fifth to Pharaoh, and ^[aj]four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and 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 slaves.” ²⁶ Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; ^(V)only the land of the priests ^[ak]did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ Now Israel ^[al]lived in the land of Egypt, in ^[am]Goshen, and they ^(W)acquired property in it and ^(X)were fruitful and became very numerous. ²⁸ Jacob lived in the land of Egypt ^(Y)seventeen years; so the ^[an]length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.

²⁹ When ^[ao](Z)the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your sight, ^(AA)place now your hand under my thigh and ^(AB)deal with me in kindness and ^[ap]faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I ^(AC)lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in ^(AD)their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.” ³¹ He said, “^(AE)Swear to me.” So he swore to him. Then ^(AF)Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.

Israel’s Last Days

48 Now it came about after these things that ^[aq]Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons ^(AG)Manasseh and Ephraim with him. ² When ^[ar]it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel ^[as]collected his strength and sat ^[at]up in the bed. ³ Then Jacob said to Joseph, “^[au](AH)God Almighty appeared to me at ^(AI)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your ^[av]descendants after you for ^(AJ)an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; ^(AK)Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as ^(AL)Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶ But your offspring that ^[aw]have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the ^[ax]names of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ Now as for me, when I came from ^(AM)Paddan, ^(AN)Rachel died, ^[ay]to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸ When Israel ^(AO)saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹ Joseph said to his father, “^(AP)They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, that ^(AQ)I may bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(AR)the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then ^[az]Joseph brought them close to him, and he ^(AS)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I never ^[ba]expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your ^[bb]children as well.” ¹² Then Joseph ^[bc]took them from his knees, and ^(AT)bowed with his face to the ground. ¹³ Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him. ¹⁴ But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, ^[bd]crossing his hands, ^[be]although ^(AU)Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ He blessed Joseph, and said,

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father ^(BA)laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and ^(BB)his ^[bi]descendants shall become a ^[bj]multitude of nations.” ^20 (BC)He blessed them that day, saying,

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but ^(BD)God will be with you, and ^(BE)bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²² I give you one ^[bk]portion more than your brothers, ^(BF)which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.

A Psalm of David.

Faith Brings Righteousness

3 ^[a]You foolish ^(A)Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ ^(B)was publicly portrayed as crucified? ² This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of ^[b]the Law, or by ^[c](C)hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun ^[d]by the Spirit, are you now ^[e]being perfected by the flesh? ⁴ Did you ^[f]suffer so many things in vain—^(D)if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ So then, does He who ^(E)provides you with the Spirit and ^(F)works ^[g]miracles among you, do it by the works of ^[h]the Law, or by ^[i](G)hearing with faith?

^6 [j]Even so ^(H)Abraham ^(I)believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. ⁷ Therefore, ^[k]be sure that ^(J)it is those who are of faith who are ^(K)sons of Abraham. ⁸ The Scripture, foreseeing that God ^[l]would justify the ^[m]Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “^(L)All the nations will be blessed in you.” ⁹ So then ^(M)those who are of faith are blessed with ^[n]Abraham, the believer.

¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of ^[o]the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “^(N)Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” ¹¹ Now that ^(O)no one is justified ^[p]by ^[q]the Law before God is evident; for, “^[r](P)The righteous man shall live by faith.” ^12 [s]However, the Law is not ^[t]of faith; on the contrary, “^(Q)He who practices them shall live ^[u]by them.” ¹³ Christ ^(R)redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “^(S)Cursed is everyone who hangs on ^(T)a ^[v]tree”— ¹⁴ in order that ^(U)in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might ^[w]come to the Gentiles, so that we ^(V)would receive ^(W)the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Intent of the Law

^15 (X)Brethren, ^(Y)I speak ^[x]in terms of human relations: ^(Z)even though it is only a man’s ^[y]covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds ^[z]conditions to it. ¹⁶ Now the promises were spoken ^(AA)to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “^(AB)And to your seed,” that is, Christ. ¹⁷ What I am saying is this: the Law, which came ^(AC)four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. ¹⁸ For ^(AD)if the inheritance is ^[aa]based on law, it is no longer ^[ab]based on a promise; but ^(AE)God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

^19 (AF)Why the Law then? It was added ^[ac]because of transgressions, having been ^(AG)ordained through angels ^(AH)by the ^[ad]agency of a mediator, until ^(AI)the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. ²⁰ Now ^(AJ)a mediator is not ^[ae]for one party only; whereas God is only one. ²¹ Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? ^(AK)May it never be! For ^(AL)if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness ^[af]would indeed have been ^[ag]based on law. ²² But the Scripture has ^(AM)shut up ^[ah]everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³ But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, ^(AN)being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the Law has become our ^(AO)tutor to lead us to Christ, so that ^(AP)we may be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a ^[ai](AQ)tutor. ²⁶ For you are all ^(AR)sons of God through faith in ^(AS)Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For all of you who were ^(AT)baptized into Christ have ^(AU)clothed yourselves with Christ. ^28 (AV)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is ^[aj]neither male nor female; for ^(AW)you are all one in ^(AX)Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if ^(AY)you ^[ak]belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s ^[al]descendants, heirs according to ^(AZ)promise.