Jacob’s Burial

50 Then Joseph, leaning over his father’s face, wept and kissed him. ² He commanded his servants who were physicians to embalm his father. So they embalmed Israel. ³ They took forty days to complete this, for embalming takes that long, and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.^(A)

⁴ When the days of mourning were over, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s household, “If I have found favor with you, please tell Pharaoh that ⁵ my father made me take an oath,^(B) saying, ‘I am about to die. You must bury me there in the tomb that I made for myself in the land of Canaan.’^(C) Now let me go and bury my father. Then I will return.”

⁶ So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father in keeping with your oath.”

⁷ Then Joseph went to bury his father, and all Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt went with him, ⁸ along with all Joseph’s family, his brothers, and his father’s family. Only their dependents, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ Horses and chariots went up with him; it was a very impressive procession. ¹⁰ When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wept loudly, and Joseph mourned seven days for his father. ¹¹ When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a solemn mourning on the part of the Egyptians.” Therefore the place is named Abel-mizraim.^[a] It is across the Jordan.

¹² So Jacob’s sons did for him what he had commanded them. ¹³ They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased as burial property from Ephron the Hethite.^{(D) 14} After Joseph buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him to bury his father.

Joseph’s Kindness

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, “If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering we caused him.”^(E)

¹⁶ So they sent this message to Joseph, “Before he died your father gave a command: ¹⁷ ‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin—the suffering they caused you.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept^(F) when their message came to him. ¹⁸ His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!”

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?^{(G) 20} You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.^{(H) 21} Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.”^(I) And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.^[b]

Joseph’s Death

²² Joseph and his father’s family remained in Egypt. Joseph lived 110 years. ²³ He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation;^(J) the sons of Manasseh’s son Machir were recognized by^[c][d] Joseph.^(K)

²⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die,^(L) but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land he swore to give to Abraham,^(M) Isaac,^(N) and Jacob.”^{(O) 25} So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: “When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.”^(P)

²⁶ Joseph died at the age of 110. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

Israel Oppressed in Egypt

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his family:^(Q)

⁵ The total number of Jacob’s descendants^[e] was seventy;^[f](R) Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶ Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation eventually died.^{(S) 7} But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous^(T) so that the land was filled with them.

⁸ A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. ⁹ He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are.^{(U) 10} Come, let’s deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and when war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”^{(V) 11} So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor.^(W) They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities^(X) for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread^[g] the Israelites. ¹³ They worked the Israelites ruthlessly^{(Y) 14} and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.^(Z)

¹⁵ The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—the first, whose name was Shiphrah, and the second, whose name was Puah— ¹⁶ “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” ¹⁷ The midwives, however, feared God^(AA) and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them;^(AB) they let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”^(AC)

²⁰ So God was good to the midwives,^(AD) and the people multiplied and became very numerous. ²¹ Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families.^{(AE) 22} Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”^(AF)

Moses’s Birth and Adoption

2 Now a man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman.^{(AG) 2} The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful,^[h] she hid him for three months.^{(AH) 3} But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. ⁴ Then his sister^(AI) stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds, sent her slave girl, took it, ⁶ opened it, and saw him, the child—and there he was, a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”

⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a Hebrew woman who is nursing to nurse the boy for you?”

⁸ “Go,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. So the girl went and called the boy’s mother. ⁹ Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses,^[i] “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Peter’s Confession of the Messiah

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,^[a](A) he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”^[b]

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”^(B)

¹⁵ “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”^(C)

¹⁷ Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,^[c](D) because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.^{(E) 18} And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,^(F) and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,^(G) and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound^[d] in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed^[e] in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was^[f] the Messiah.^(H)

His Death and Resurrection Predicted

²¹ From^(I) then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.^{(J) 22} Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no,^[g] Lord! This will never happen to you!”

²³ Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns^[h] but human concerns.”^(K)

Take Up Your Cross

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.^{(L) 25} For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.^{(M) 26} For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?^{(N) 27} For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father,^(O) and then he will reward each according to what he has done. ²⁸ Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”^(P)

The Transfiguration

17 After six days^(Q) Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.^{(R) 2} He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light.^{(S) 3} Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. ⁴ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good for us to be here. If you want, I will set up^[i] three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”^(T)

⁵ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered^[j] them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!” ^{(U) 6} When the disciples^(V) heard this, they fell facedown and were terrified.

⁷ Jesus came up, touched them, and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.”^{(W) 8} When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus alone.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them,^(X) “Don’t tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised^[k] from the dead.”

Psalm 21

The King’s Victory

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

Avoid Seduction