The Daily Audio Bible

44 Then he ordered the manager of his household, “Fill the men’s packs with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money just inside his pack. ² And put my goblet, the silver one, just inside the pack of the youngest, along with his grain money.” He did what Yosef told him to do.

³ At daybreak the men were sent off with their donkeys; ⁴ but before they were far from the city Yosef said to his manager, “Up, go after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? ⁵ Isn’t this the goblet my lord drinks from, indeed the one he uses for divination? What you have done is evil!’” ⁶ So he caught up with them and said these words to them. ⁷ They replied, “Why does my lord speak this way? Heaven forbid that we should do such a thing! ⁸ Why, the money we found inside our packs we brought back to you from the land of Kena‘an! So how would we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? ⁹ Whichever one of us the goblet is found with, let him be put to death — and the rest of us will be my lord’s slaves!” ¹⁰ He replied, “Fine; let it be as you have said: whichever one it is found with will be my slave. But the rest of you will be blameless.” ¹¹ Then each hurried to put his pack down on the ground, and each one opened his pack. ¹² He searched, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the goblet was found in the pack belonging to Binyamin. ¹³ At this, they tore their clothes from grief. Then each man loaded up his donkey and returned to the city.

(A: Maftir) ¹⁴ Y’hudah and his brothers arrived at Yosef’s house. He was still there, and they fell down before him on the ground. (S: Maftir) ¹⁵ Yosef said to them, “How could you do such a thing? Don’t you know that a man such as myself can learn the truth by divination?” ¹⁶ Y’hudah said, “There’s nothing we can say to my lord! How can we speak? There’s no way we can clear ourselves! God has revealed your servants’ guilt; so here we are, my lord’s slaves — both we and also the one in whose possession the cup was found.” ¹⁷ But he replied, “Heaven forbid that I should act in such a way. The man in whose possession the goblet was found will be my slave; but as for you, go in peace to your father.”

Haftarah Mikketz: M’lakhim Alef (1 Kings) 3:15–4:1

B’rit Hadashah suggested reading for Parashah Mikketz: Acts 7:9–16 (specifically vv. 11–12)

Parashah 11: Vayigash (He approached) 44:18–47:27

¹⁸ Then Y’hudah approached Yosef and said, “Please, my lord! Let your servant say something to you privately; and don’t be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father? or a brother?’ ²⁰ We answered my lord, ‘We have a father who is an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one whose brother is dead; so that of his mother’s children he alone is left; and his father loves him.’ ²¹ But you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I can see him.’ ²² We answered my lord, ‘The boy can’t leave his father; if he were to leave his father, his father would die.’ ²³ You said to your servants, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ ²⁴ We went up to your servant my father and told him what my lord had said; ²⁵ but when our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us some food,’ ²⁶ we answered, ‘We can’t go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go down, because we can’t see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons: ²⁸ the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he has been torn to pieces,” and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ Now if you take this one away from me too, and something happens to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sh’ol with grief.’ ³⁰ So now if I go to your servant my father, and the boy isn’t with us — seeing how his heart is bound up with the boy’s heart — (ii) ³¹ when he sees that the boy isn’t with us, he will die; and your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sh’ol with grief. ³² For your servant himself guaranteed his safety; I said, ‘If I fail to bring him to you, then I will bear the blame before my father forever.’ ³³ Therefore, I beg you, let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I go up to my father if the boy isn’t with me? I couldn’t bear to see my father so overwhelmed by anguish.”

45 At last Yosef could no longer control his feelings in front of his attendants and cried, “Get everybody away from me!” So no one else was with him when Yosef revealed to his brothers who he was. ² He wept aloud, and the Egyptians heard, and Pharaoh’s household heard. ³ Yosef said to his brothers, “I am Yosef! Is it true that my father is still alive?” His brothers couldn’t answer him, they were so dumbfounded at seeing him. ⁴ Yosef said to his brothers, “Please! Come closer.” And they came closer. He said, “I am Yosef, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ But don’t be sad that you sold me into slavery here or angry at yourselves, because it was God who sent me ahead of you to preserve life. ⁶ The famine has been over the land for the last two years, and for yet another five years there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷ God sent me ahead of you to ensure that you will have descendants on earth and to save your lives in a great deliverance. (iii) ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his household and ruler over the whole land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry, go up to my father, and tell him, ‘Here is what your son Yosef says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt! Come down to me, don’t delay! ¹⁰ You will live in the land of Goshen and be near me — you, your children, your grandchildren, flocks, herds, everything you own. ¹¹ I will provide for you there, so that you won’t become poverty-stricken, you, your household and all that you have; because five years of famine are yet to come.”’ ¹² Here! Your own eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Binyamin, that it is my own mouth speaking to you. ¹³ Tell my father how honored I am in Egypt and everything you have seen, and quickly bring my father down here!” ¹⁴ Then he embraced his brother Binyamin and wept, and Binyamin wept on his neck, ¹⁵ and he kissed all his brothers and wept on them. After that, his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ The report of this reached Pharaoh’s house: “Yosef’s brothers have come”; and Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. ¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Tell your brothers, ‘Here is what you are to do. Load up your animals, go to the land of Kena‘an, ¹⁸ take your father and your families, and come back to me. I will give you good property in Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.

(iv) ¹⁹ “‘Moreover — and this is an order — do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt to carry your little ones and your wives, and bring your father, and come. ²⁰ Don’t worry about your stuff, because everything good in the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ The sons of Isra’el acted accordingly; and Yosef gave them wagons, as Pharaoh had ordered, and gave them provisions for their journey. ²² To each of them he gave a set of new clothes; but to Binyamin he gave seven-and-a-half pounds of silver and five sets of new clothes. ²³ Likewise, to his father he sent ten donkeys loaded with the finest goods Egypt produced, as well as ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread and food for his father to eat on the return journey. ²⁴ Thus he sent his brothers on their way, and they left; he said to them, “Don’t quarrel among yourselves while you’re traveling!”

²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt, entered the land of Kena‘an and came to Ya‘akov their father. ²⁶ They told him, “Yosef is still alive! He is ruler over the whole land of Egypt!” He was stunned at the news; he couldn’t believe them. ²⁷ So they reported to him everything Yosef had said to them; but it was only when he saw the wagons which Yosef had sent to carry him that the spirit of Ya‘akov their father began to revive. (v) ²⁸ Isra’el said, “Enough! My son Yosef is still alive! I must go and see him before I die.”

¹³ On hearing about this, Yeshua left in a boat to be by himself in the wilderness. But the people learned of it and followed him from the towns by land. ¹⁴ So when he came ashore, he saw a huge crowd; and, filled with compassion for them, he healed those of them who were sick.

¹⁵ As evening approached, the talmidim came to him and said, “This is a remote place and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away, so that they can go and buy food for themselves in the villages.” ¹⁶ But Yeshua replied, “They don’t need to go away. Give them something to eat, yourselves!” ¹⁷ “All we have with us,” they said, “is five loaves of bread and two fish.” ¹⁸ He said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ After instructing the crowds to sit down on the grass, he took the five loaves and the two fish and, looking up toward heaven, made a b’rakhah. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the talmidim, who gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ They all ate as much as they wanted, and they took up twelve baskets full of the pieces left over. ²¹ Those eating numbered about five thousand men, plus women and children.

²² Immediately he had the talmidim get in the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the crowds away. ²³ After he had sent the crowds away, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night came on, and he was there alone. ²⁴ But by this time, the boat was several miles from shore, battling a rough sea and a headwind. ²⁵ Around four o’clock in the morning, he came toward them, walking on the lake! ²⁶ When the talmidim saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said and screamed with fear. ²⁷ But at once Yeshua spoke to them. “Courage,” he said, “it is I. Stop being afraid.” ²⁸ Then Kefa called to him, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ “Come!” he said. So Kefa got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Yeshua. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he became afraid; and as he began to sink, he yelled, “Lord! Save me!” ³¹ Yeshua immediately stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “Such little trust! Why did you doubt?” ³² As they went up into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³ The men in the boat fell down before him and exclaimed, “You really are God’s son!”

³⁴ Having made the crossing, they landed at Ginosar. ³⁵ When the people of the place recognized him, they sent word throughout the neighborhood and brought him everyone who was ill. ³⁶ They begged him that the sick people might only touch the tzitzit on his robe, and all who touched it were completely healed.