Jacob Goes to Egypt

46 So Israel set out, along with everything that belonged to him. When he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² In visions of the night God said to Israel, “Jacob, Jacob.”

“Hineni,” he said.

³ “I am God, the God of your father,” He said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will turn you into a great nation there. ⁴ I Myself will go down with you to Egypt and I Myself will also most certainly bring you up. Joseph will put his hands on your eyes.”

⁵ Then Jacob arose from Beersheba and Israel’s sons carried Jacob their father, their little children, and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They also took their livestock and their possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan and they came to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him. ⁷ His sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt. ⁸ Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Jacob’s firstborn, Reuben, ⁹ and Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. ¹⁰ Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zochar and Shaul the son of the Canaanite woman. ¹¹ Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. ¹² Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah. Er died along with Onan in the land of Canaan. Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puvah, Iob and Shimron. ¹⁴ Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These are Leah’s sons whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, along with his daughter Dinah. The tally of all of his sons and daughters was 33 people.

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

¹⁹ The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt—Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On bore them to him. ²¹ Benjamin’s sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. ²² These are Rachel’s sons who were born to Jacob. The tally of all the people was 14.

²³ The sons of Dan: Hushim ²⁴ Naphtali’s sons: Yachzeel, Guni, Yezer and Shillem. ²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter and she bore these to Jacob. The tally of all the people was seven. ²⁶ All the people belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt—those coming from his loins (not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons)—the tally of all the people was 66. ²⁷ The sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt was a tally of two people. The tally of all the people belonging to Jacob’s house who came to Egypt was 70.

²⁸ Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph to show him the way to Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen, ²⁹ Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as he appeared before him, he fell upon his neck, and wept on his neck for some time.

³⁰ Then Israel said to Joseph, “At this time I am ready to die, after seeing your face in person—for you’re still alive!”

³¹ Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I’ll go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. ³² The men are shepherds, for they’ve been men who handle livestock, who have brought their flocks and cattle and everything that they possess.’ ³³ So when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you must say, ‘Your servants have been men who handle livestock since the time of our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you can live in the land of Goshen, because every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians.”

Jacob Blesses Pharaoh

47 Then Joseph came and informed Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their cattle and everything that belongs to them have come from the land of Canaan, and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”

² From among his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh. ³ Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.” ⁴ Then they said to Pharaoh, “We came to dwell temporarily in the land, since there is no pasture for the flocks that belong to your servants, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph saying, “Your father and your brothers came to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is before you—settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, make them overseers of the livestock—over those that are mine.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How many days are the years of your life?”

⁹ Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourn are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Moreover, the days of the years of my life have not attained the days of the years of the lives of my fathers, in the days of their sojourn.”

¹⁰ And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from Pharaoh’s presence. ¹¹ Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh commanded. ¹² And Joseph supported his father and his brothers and his father’s entire household with food for the mouths of the little ones.

Joseph’s Leadership in the Famine

¹³ Now there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe. Both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ¹⁴ Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain that they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵ Then the money of the land of Egypt and of the land of Canaan ran out and all of Egypt came to Joseph saying, “Give us food. Why should we die in front of you because the money is gone?”

¹⁶ Joseph said, “Give your livestock and I’ll give it to you for your livestock, if the money is gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph and Joseph gave them food in exchange for horses, for flocks of sheep, for herds of cattle and for donkeys. He provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. ¹⁸ When that year came to an end, they came to him in the second year and said to him, “We won’t hide from my lord that the money has run out and the livestock and the domestic animals are my lord’s. There is nothing left in my lord’s sight except our bodies and our land. ¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes—both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food—we and our land will become Pharaoh’s slaves. Provide seed so that we may live and not die, and the land won’t be deserted.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh because the Egyptians, each one, sold his field, for the famine overcame them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ He made the people slaves from one end of Egypt’s border to the other. ²² Only he did not buy the land belonging to the priests, because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they ate their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their land.

²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you, so that you can sow the land. ²⁴ During the harvest you must give a fifth part to Pharaoh and four-fifths will be for you, for seed for the field and for your food, and for those in your houses, and for food for your little ones.”

²⁵ “You’ve saved our lives,” they said. “We find favor in the eyes of my lord, and we’ll be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁶ So Joseph set it as a statute until this very day concerning the land of Egypt: a fifth-part goes to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ land did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ Meanwhile, Israel settled in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, acquired property in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

Parashat Vayechi

Joseph’s Promise to Jacob

²⁸ Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for 17 years, so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years. ²⁹ As the time of Israel’s death drew near, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh and show me faithful kindness. Please do not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ When I lie down with my fathers, you must carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

So he said, “I myself will do according to your word.”

³¹ “Swear to me,” he said. So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed down in worship on the head of his staff.^[a]

Religious Leaders Quiz Yeshua

15 Then some Pharisees and Torah scholars came to Yeshua from Jerusalem. They said, ² “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not do the ritual handwashing when they eat bread.”

³ And answering, He said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a] and ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ ^{[b] 5} But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever you might have gained from me is a gift to God,” ^{[c] 6} he need not honor his father.’ On account of your tradition, you made void the word of God. ⁷ Hypocrites! Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying,

¹⁰ Then Yeshua called the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹ It’s not what goes into the mouth that makes the man unholy; but what comes out of the mouth, this makes the man unholy.”^[e]

¹² Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this saying?”

¹³ But He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵ Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

¹⁶ “Are you also still lacking understanding?” Yeshua said. ¹⁷ “Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is ejected into the sewer? ¹⁸ But the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and those things make the man unholy. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. ^{[f] 20} These are the things that make the man unholy; but to eat with unwashed hands does not make the man unholy.”

A Reward for a Humble Woman

²¹ Now Yeshua left from there and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And behold, a Canaanite woman from that district came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, O Master, Ben-David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”

²³ But He did not answer her a word. And when His disciples came, they were urging Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.”

²⁴ But He responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵ So she came and got down on her knees before Him, saying, “Master, help me!”

²⁶ And answering, He said, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁷ But she said, “Yes, Master, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Then answering, Yeshua said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed in that very hour.

Glory from Heaven and Torah

Psalm 19