The Return to Egypt

43 ^(A)Now the famine was severe in the land. ² So it came about when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” ³ Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “^(B)The man solemnly warned ^[a]us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵ But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶ Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly ^[b]by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” ⁷ But they said, “The man questioned particularly about us and our relatives, saying, ‘^(C)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we ^[c]answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸ Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the lad with me and we will arise and go, ^(D)that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ^9 (E)I myself will be surety for him; ^[d]you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then ^[e]let me bear the blame before you forever. ¹⁰ For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ^[f]bags, and carry down to the man ^(F)as a present, a little ^[g](G)balm and a little honey, ^[h]aromatic gum and ^[i]myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² Take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^(H)the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³ Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; ¹⁴ and may ^[j](I)God Almighty ^(J)grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you ^(K)your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(L)if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” ¹⁵ So the men took ^(M)this present, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his ^(N)house steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and make ready; for the men are to dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷ So the man did as Joseph said, and ^[k]brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may ^[l]seek occasion against us and fall upon us, and take us for slaves with our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So they came near to Joseph’s house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, ²⁰ and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, ²¹ and it came about when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^(O)each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in ^[m]full. So ^(P)we have brought it back in our hand. ²² We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³ He said, “^[n]Be at ease, do not be afraid. ^(Q)Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; ^[o]I had your money.” Then ^(R)he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^(S)gave them water, and they ^(T)washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder. ²⁵ So they prepared ^(U)the present ^[p]for Joseph’s coming at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ^[q]a meal there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and ^(V)bowed to the ground before him. ²⁷ Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, “^(W)Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸ They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” ^(X)They bowed down ^[r]in homage. ²⁹ As he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this ^(Y)your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “^(Z)May God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Joseph hurried out for ^[s](AA)he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he sought a place to weep; and he entered his chamber and ^(AB)wept there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out; and he ^(AC)controlled himself and said, “^[t]Serve the meal.” ³² So they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is ^[u](AD)loathsome to the Egyptians. ³³ Now they ^[v]were seated before him, ^(AE)the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. ³⁴ He took portions to them from ^[w]his own table, ^(AF)but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

Things to Come

13 ^(A)As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples *said to Him, “Teacher, behold ^[a]what wonderful stones and ^[b]what wonderful buildings!” ² And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? ^(B)Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

³ As He was sitting on ^(C)the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, ^(D)Peter and ^[c]James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the ^[d]sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” ⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁶ Many will come in My name, saying, ‘^(E)I am He!’ and will mislead many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. ⁸ For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

⁹ “But ^[e]be on your guard; for they will ^(F)deliver you to the ^[f]courts, and you will be flogged ^(G)in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. ^10 (H)The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ^11 (I)When they ^[g]arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. ¹² Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and ^[h]have them put to death. ^13 (J)You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

¹⁴ “But ^(K)when you see the ^(L)abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ^15 (M)The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; ¹⁶ and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. ¹⁷ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ¹⁸ But pray that it may not happen in the winter. ¹⁹ For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred ^(N)since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. ²⁰ Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no ^[i]life would have been saved; but for the sake of the ^[j]elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. ²¹ And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is ^[k]the Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him; ²² for false Christs and ^(O)false prophets will arise, and will show ^[l](P)signs and ^(Q)wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. ²³ But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.

The Return of Christ

²⁴ “But in those days, after that tribulation, ^(R)the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, ^25 (S)and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in ^[m]the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶ Then they will see ^(T)the Son of Man ^(U)coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And then He will send forth the angels, and ^(V)will gather together His ^[n]elect from the four winds, ^(W)from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

²⁸ “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, ^[o]recognize that ^[p]He is near, right at the ^[q]door. ³⁰ Truly I say to you, this ^[r]generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. ^32 (X)But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

³³ “Take heed, ^(Y)keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time ^[s]will come. ^34 (Z)It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and ^[t]putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. ³⁵ Therefore, ^(AA)be on the alert—for you do not know when the ^[u]master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or ^(AB)when the rooster crows, or ^(AC)in the morning— ³⁶ in case he should come suddenly and find you ^(AD)asleep. ³⁷ What I say to you I say to all, ‘^(AE)Be on the alert!’”