Old/New Testament
Chapter 49
Jacob’s Testament.[a] 1 Jacob called his sons and said: “Gather around, that I may tell you what is to happen to you in days to come.
2 “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel, your father.
3 “You, Reuben, my firstborn,
my strength and the first fruit of my vigor,
excelling in rank and excelling in power!
4 Turbulent as water, you shall no longer excel,
for you climbed into your father’s bed
and defiled my couch to my sorrow.(A)
5 [b]“Simeon and Levi, brothers indeed,
weapons of violence are their knives.[c]
6 Let not my person enter their council,
or my honor be joined with their company;
For in their fury they killed men,
at their whim they maimed oxen.(B)
7 Cursed be their fury so fierce,
and their rage so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob,
disperse them throughout Israel.
8 “You, Judah, shall your brothers praise
—your hand on the neck of your enemies;
the sons of your father shall bow down to you.
9 Judah is a lion’s cub,
you have grown up on prey, my son.
He crouches, lies down like a lion,
like a lioness—who would dare rouse him?(C)
10 The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his feet,
Until tribute comes to him,[d]
and he receives the people’s obedience.
11 He tethers his donkey to the vine,
his donkey’s foal to the choicest stem.
In wine he washes his garments,
his robe in the blood of grapes.[e]
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore;
he will be a haven for ships,
and his flank shall rest on Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a rawboned donkey,
crouching between the saddlebags.
15 When he saw how good a settled life was,
and how pleasant the land,
He bent his shoulder to the burden
and became a toiling serf.
16 “Dan shall achieve justice[f] for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Let Dan be a serpent by the roadside,
a horned viper by the path,
That bites the horse’s heel,
so that the rider tumbles backward.
18 “I long for your deliverance, O Lord![g]
19 “Gad shall be raided by raiders,
but he shall raid at their heels.[h]
20 “Asher’s produce is rich,
and he shall furnish delicacies for kings.
21 “Naphtali is a hind let loose,
which brings forth lovely fawns.
22 “Joseph is a wild colt,
a wild colt by a spring,
wild colts on a hillside.
23 Harrying him and shooting,
the archers opposed him;
24 But his bow remained taut,
and his arms were nimble,
By the power of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 The God of your father, who helps you,[i]
God Almighty, who blesses you,
With the blessings of the heavens above,
the blessings of the abyss that crouches below,
The blessings of breasts and womb,
26 the blessings of fresh grain and blossoms,
the blessings of the everlasting mountains,
the delights of the eternal hills.
May they rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
mornings he devours the prey,
and evenings he distributes the spoils.”
Farewell and Death. 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said about them, as he blessed them. To each he gave a suitable blessing. 29 Then he gave them this charge: “Since I am about to be gathered to my people, bury me with my ancestors in the cave that lies in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial ground.(D) 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there, too, I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave in it that had been purchased from the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Chapter 50
Jacob’s Funeral. 1 Joseph flung himself upon his father and wept over him as he kissed him. 2 Then Joseph ordered the physicians in his service to embalm his father. When the physicians embalmed Israel, 3 they spent forty days at it, for that is the full period of embalming; and the Egyptians mourned him for seventy days. 4 When the period of mourning was over, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s household. “If you please, appeal to Pharaoh, saying: 5 My father made me swear: ‘I am dying. Bury me in my grave that I have prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.’ So now let me go up to bury my father. Then I will come back.”(E) 6 Pharaoh replied, “Go and bury your father, as he made you promise on oath.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went all of Pharaoh’s officials who were senior members of his household and all the other elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as Joseph’s whole household, his brothers, and his father’s household; only their children and their flocks and herds were left in the region of Goshen. 9 Chariots, too, and horsemen went up with him; it was a very imposing retinue.
10 When they arrived at Goren-ha-atad,[j] which is beyond the Jordan, they held there a very great and solemn memorial service; and Joseph observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11 When the Canaanites who inhabited the land saw the mourning at Goren-ha-atad, they said, “This is a solemn funeral on the part of the Egyptians!” That is why the place was named Abel-mizraim. It is beyond the Jordan.
12 Thus Jacob’s sons did for him as he had instructed them. 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing on Mamre, the field that Abraham had bought for a burial ground from Ephron the Hittite.(F)
14 After Joseph had buried his father he returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all who had gone up with him for the burial of his father.
Plea for Forgiveness. 15 [k]Now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful and thought, “Suppose Joseph has been nursing a grudge against us and now most certainly will pay us back in full for all the wrong we did him!” 16 So they sent to Joseph and said: “Before your father died, he gave us these instructions: 17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: Please forgive the criminal wrongdoing of your brothers, who treated you harmfully.’ So now please forgive the crime that we, the servants of the God of your father, committed.” When they said this to him, Joseph broke into tears. 18 Then his brothers also proceeded to fling themselves down before him and said, “We are your slaves!” 19 But Joseph replied to them: “Do not fear. Can I take the place of God? 20 Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve this present end, the survival of many people.(G) 21 So now, do not fear. I will provide for you and for your children.” By thus speaking kindly to them, he reassured them.(H)
22 Joseph remained in Egypt, together with his father’s household. He lived a hundred and ten years. 23 He saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation, and the children of Manasseh’s son Machir were also born on Joseph’s knees.(I)
Death of Joseph. 24 Joseph said to his brothers: “I am about to die. God will surely take care of you and lead you up from this land to the land that he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”(J) 25 Then, putting the sons of Israel under oath, he continued, “When God thus takes care of you, you must bring my bones up from this place.”(K) 26 Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. He was embalmed and laid to rest in a coffin in Egypt.(L)
31 (A)He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. 32 [a](B)It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”
The Parable of the Yeast. 33 He spoke to them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast[b] that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”(C)
The Use of Parables. 34 [c](D)All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, 35 to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:[d]
“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation [of the world].”(E)
The Explanation of the Parable of the Weeds. 36 Then, dismissing the crowds,[e] he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 [f]He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, 38 the field is the world,[g] the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age,[h] and the harvesters are angels. 40 Just as weeds are collected and burned [up] with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom[i] all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. 42 (F)They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. 43 [j](G)Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.
More Parables.[k] 44 (H)“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,[l] which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46 When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. 47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. 48 When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. 49 Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Treasures New and Old. 51 “Do you understand[m] all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 [n]And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” 53 When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.
V. Jesus, the Kingdom, and the Church
The Rejection at Nazareth. 54 [o]He came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.(I) They were astonished[p] and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?(J) 55 Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?(K) 56 Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.”(L) 58 And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.