Lamentation for Jacob

50 Joseph fell upon his father’s face, wept over him and kissed him. ² Then Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ They took 40 days for him, because that is how long embalming takes, and Egypt wept 70 days.

⁴ When the days of formal weeping passed, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s house saying, “If I’ve found favor in your eyes, please say in Pharaoh’s ears, ⁵ “My father made me take an oath saying, ‘Behold, I am about to die. In my tomb—which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan—there you must bury me.’ So now, please allow me to go up and bury my father, and then return.”

⁶ Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father just as he made you swear on oath.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. Also all of Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt went up with him, ⁸ along with all of Joseph’s house, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and cattle were left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ Chariots and horsemen also went up with him—it was a very impressive company.

¹⁰ When they came to the threshing floor of the bramble on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there—a very great and solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹ When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning ritual at the threshing floor of the prickly bush, they said, “A solemn mourning ritual this is for the Egyptians.” That is why it is named Abel-Mizraim, which is on the other side of the Jordan.

¹² So Jacob’s sons did for him just as he commanded them. ¹³ His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, the field that Abraham bought as a property for burial from Ephron the Hittite, next to Mamre.

¹⁴ After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all those who went up with him to bury his father.

Joseph Comforts His Brothers

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father had died, they said, “Maybe Joseph will be hostile towards us and pay us back in full for all the evil we showed him. ¹⁶ So they charged Joseph saying, “Before his death, your father gave a command, saying, ¹⁷ “Thus you must say to Joseph: ‘Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin because they treated you wrongly.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.”

Then Joseph wept when they spoke to him, ¹⁸ and his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your slaves!”

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. For am I in the place of God? ²⁰ Yes, you yourselves planned evil against me. God planned it for good, in order to bring about what it is this day—to preserve the lives of many people. ²¹ So now, don’t be afraid. I myself will provide food for you and your little ones.” So he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

²² Joseph remained in Egypt—he and his father’s household—and Joseph lived 110 years. ²³ Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons. Also the sons of Machir, Manasseh’s son, were born upon Joseph’s knees.

²⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I’m about to die. But God will surely take notice of you and will bring you up from this land to the land that He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then Joseph made Israel’s sons swear an oath saying, “When God takes notice of you, you will bring my bones up from here.”

²⁶ So Joseph died at 110 years old, and they embalmed him and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Parashat Shemot

Oppression in Egypt

1 Now these are the names of Bnei-Yisrael who came into Egypt with Jacob, each man with his family: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵ The souls that came out of the line of Jacob numbered 70 in all, while Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶ Then Joseph died, as did all his brothers and all that generation. ⁷ Yet Bnei-Yisrael were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied and grew extremely numerous—so the land was filled with them.

⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “Look, the people of Bnei-Yisrael are too numerous and too powerful for us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, or else they will grow even more numerous, so that if war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and then escape from the land.”

¹¹ So they set slave masters over them to afflict them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Raamses as storage cities for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread. So the Egyptians dreaded the presence of Bnei-Yisrael. ¹³ They worked them harshly, ¹⁴ and made their lives bitter with hard labor with mortar and brick, doing all sorts of work in the fields. In all their labors they worked them with cruelty.

¹⁵ Moreover the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶ and said, “When you help the Hebrew women during childbirth, look at the sex. If it’s a son, then kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” ¹⁷ Yet the midwives feared God, so they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this—let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The midwives told Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are like animals,^[a] and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” ²⁰ So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, growing very numerous. ²¹ Because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.

²² But Pharaoh charged all his people saying, “You are to cast every son that is born into the river, but let every daughter live.”

Young Moses

2 Now a man from the house of Levi took as his wife a daughter of Levi. ² The woman conceived and gave birth to a son. Now when she saw that he was delightful, she hid him for three months. ^{[b] 3} But when she could no longer hide him, she took a basket of papyrus reeds, coated it with tar and pitch, put the child inside, and laid it in the reeds by the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood off at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe, while her maidens walked along by the riverside. When she saw the basket^[c] among the reeds, she sent her handmaiden to fetch it. ⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child—a baby boy crying! She had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”

⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse from the Hebrews to nurse the child for you?”

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

The Father Reveals His Son

¹³ When Yeshua came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They answered, “Some say John the Immerser, others say Elijah, and still others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

¹⁵ He said, “But who do you say I am?”

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

¹⁷ Yeshua said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven! ¹⁸ And I also tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My community^[a]; and the gates of Sheol will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will have been forbidden in heaven and what you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven.” ²⁰ Then He ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah.

First Prediction: Death and Resurrection

²¹ From that time on, Yeshua began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and ruling kohanim and Torah scholars, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.

²² Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Never, Master! This must never happen to You!”

²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of men.”

²⁴ Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then ‘He will repay everyone according to his deeds.’ ^{[b] 28} Amen, I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Two Witnesses and a Voice from Heaven

17 After six days, Yeshua takes with Him Peter and Jacob and John his brother, and brings them up a high mountain by themselves. ² Now He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Yeshua. ⁴ Peter responded to Yeshua, “Master, it’s good for us to be here! If You wish, I will make three sukkot here—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”^[c]

⁵ While He was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice from out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”^[d]

⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell face down, terrified. ⁷ But Yeshua came and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Stop being afraid.” ⁸ And lifting their eyes, they saw no one except Yeshua alone.

⁹ As they were coming down from the mountain, Yeshua commanded them, saying, “Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

The Victorious King

Psalm 21

Beware Seduction

5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom.