Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

48 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ² And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. ³ And Jacob said to Joseph, ^(A)“God Almighty^[a] appeared to me at ^(B)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you ^(C)for an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ And now your ^(D)two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, ^(E)are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶ And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow ^(F)Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance^[b] to go to Ephrath, and 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, ^(G)“They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that ^(H)I may bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(I)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, ^(J)and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, ^(K)“I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” ¹² Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ¹³ And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. ^14 (L)And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, ^(M)crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). ¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph and said,

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father ^(S)laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. ¹⁸ And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father refused and said, ^(T)“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, ^(U)his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude^[d] of nations.” ²⁰ So 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 ^(W)God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. ²² Moreover, I have given to ^(X)you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope^[e] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

Jacob Blesses His Sons

49 ^(A)Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you ^(B)in days to come.

Jacob's Death and Burial

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. ²⁹ Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be ^(AS)gathered to my people; ^(AT)bury me with my fathers ^(AU)in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, ^(AV)which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. ^31 (AW)There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There ^(AX)they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— ³² the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” ³³ When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and ^(AY)was gathered to his people.

50 Then Joseph ^(A)fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. ² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to ^(B)embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians ^(C)wept for him seventy days.

⁴ And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, ^(D)“If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ⁵ ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb ^(E)that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’” ⁶ And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” ⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left ^(F)in the land of Goshen. ⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. ¹⁰ When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, ^(G)they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he ^(H)made a mourning for his father seven days. ¹¹ When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim;^[a] it is beyond the Jordan. ¹² Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, ¹³ for ^(I)his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham ^(J)bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. ¹⁴ After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

God's Good Purposes

¹⁵ When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ¹⁷ ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of ^(K)the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ His brothers also came and ^(L)fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for ^(M)am I in the place of God? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but ^(N)God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people^[b] should be kept alive, as they are today. ²¹ So do not fear; ^(O)I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

The Death of Joseph

²² So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. ²³ And Joseph saw Ephraim's children ^(P)of the third generation. The ^(Q)children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were ^(R)counted as Joseph's own.^{[c] 24} And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but ^(S)God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land ^(T)that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then ^(U)Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They ^(V)embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Jesus at the Feast of Booths

7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because ^(A)the Jews^[a] were seeking to kill him. ² Now ^(B)the Jews' Feast of ^(C)Booths was at hand. ^3 (D)So his brothers^[b] said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. ⁴ For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, ^(E)show yourself to the world.” ^5 (F)For not even ^(G)his brothers believed in him. ⁶ Jesus said to them, ^(H)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but ^(I)it hates me because I testify about it that ^(J)its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to the feast. I am not^[c] going up to this feast, for ^(K)my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

¹⁰ But after ^(L)his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. ^11 (M)The Jews ^(N)were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was much ^(O)muttering about him among the people. ^(P)While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, ^(Q)he is leading the people astray.” ¹³ Yet ^(R)for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

¹⁴ About the middle of the feast Jesus went up ^(S)into the temple and began teaching. ¹⁵ The Jews therefore ^(T)marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,^[d] when he has never studied?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them, ^(U)“My teaching is not mine, but his ^(V)who sent me. ^17 (W)If anyone's will is to do God's^[e] will, ^(X)he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I ^(Y)am speaking on my own authority. ¹⁸ The one who speaks on his own authority ^(Z)seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. ^19 (AA)Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. ^(AB)Why do you seek to kill me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, ^(AC)“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(AD)one work, and you all marvel at it. ^22 (AE)Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but ^(AF)from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³ If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, ^(AG)are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? ^24 (AH)Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Can This Be the Christ?

²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^(AI)they seek to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, ^(AJ)speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^(AK)the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷ But ^(AL)we know ^(AM)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^(AN)no one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸ So Jesus proclaimed, ^(AO)as he taught in the temple, ^(AP)“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^(AQ)I have not come of my own accord. ^(AR)He who sent me is true, ^(AS)and him you do not know. ^29 (AT)I know him, for I come ^(AU)from him, and ^(AV)he sent me.” ^30 (AW)So they were seeking to arrest him, but ^(AX)no one laid a hand on him, ^(AY)because his hour had not yet come. ³¹ Yet ^(AZ)many of the people believed in him. They said, ^(BA)“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd ^(BB)muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent ^(BC)officers to arrest him. ³³ Jesus then said, ^(BD)“I will be with you a little longer, and then ^(BE)I am going to him who sent me. ^34 (BF)You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? ^(BG)Does he intend to go to ^(BH)the Dispersion among ^(BI)the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean by saying, ^(BJ)‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

^37 (BK)On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^(BL)“If anyone thirsts, let him ^(BM)come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, ^(BN)as^[f] the Scripture has said, ^(BO)‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of ^(BP)living water.’” ³⁹ Now ^(BQ)this he said about the Spirit, ^(BR)whom those who believed in him were to receive, ^(BS)for as yet the Spirit had not been ^(BT)given, ^(BU)because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

⁴⁰ When they heard these words, ^(BV)some of the people said, “This really is ^(BW)the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is ^(BX)the Christ.” But some said, ^(BY)“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes ^(BZ)from the offspring of David, and comes ^(CA)from Bethlehem, the village ^(CB)where David was?” ⁴³ So there was ^(CC)a division among the people over him. ^44 (CD)Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

^45 (CE)The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, ^(CF)“No one ever spoke like this man!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees answered them, ^(CG)“Have you also been deceived? ^48 (CH)Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” ^50 (CI)Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ^51 (CJ)“Does our law judge a man without first ^(CK)giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” ⁵² They replied, ^(CL)“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that ^(CM)no prophet arises from Galilee.”

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.]^[g]

The Woman Caught in Adultery

⁵³ [[They went each to his own house,