Old/New Testament
Jacob Blesses His Sons
49 Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, so that I can declare to you what will happen to you in the days to come.” [a]
2 Assemble together, and listen to this, you sons of Jacob.
Listen to Israel, your father.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might,
and the beginning of my vigor,
excelling in dignity and excelling in power.
4 Boiling over like water, you shall not excel,
because you went up to your father’s bed,
and you defiled it.
He went up to my couch!
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers.
Their daggers[b] are weapons of violence.
6 My soul, do not enter their council.
My glory, do not join in their assembly.
Yes, in their anger they killed men.
In their spitefulness they hamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce.
Cursed be their wrath, for it was cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob.
I will scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you.
Your hand will be on the throat of your enemies.
Your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 Judah is a lion’s cub.
You have gone up from the prey, my son.
He stooped down. He crouched like a lion.
He is like a lioness. Who will provoke him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until the one to whom it belongs comes.[c]
He will receive the obedience of the peoples.
11 He will tie his foal to the vine,
his donkey’s colt to the choice vine.
He has washed his clothing in wine,
his garments in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.[d]
13 Zebulun will dwell at the seashore.
He will provide a landing place for ships.
His border will extend toward Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong-boned donkey,
lying down between the saddlebags.[e]
15 He saw a resting place that was good.
He saw land that was pleasant.
He bows his shoulder under the burden
and becomes a slave doing forced labor.
16 Dan will judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a snake in the way,
a viper in the path.
It bites the horse’s heels,
so that its rider falls backward.
18 I have waited for your salvation, O Lord.
19 Raiders will attack Gad,
but he will attack their heels.
20 Asher’s food will be rich.
He will produce delicacies fit for a king.
21 Naphtali is a doe set free,
that bears beautiful fawns.[f]
22 Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine by a spring.
His branches run over the wall.[g]
23 The archers have fiercely attacked him.
They shot at him and harassed him,
24 but his bow remained steady.
His arms and hands were made strong
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
by the name of[h] the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,
25 by the God of your father, who will help you,
by the Almighty, who will bless you
with blessings from heaven above,
blessings from the deep that lies below,
blessings from the breasts and from the womb.
26 The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of
my parents,[i]
greater than the treasures of the ancient hills.
They will rest on the head of Joseph,
on the forehead of him who is elevated above his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
In the morning he will devour the prey.
At evening he will divide the spoils.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them when he blessed them. He blessed each one with the appropriate blessing. 29 He instructed them and said to them, “I am going to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, which is near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham purchased along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave that is in it was purchased from the descendants of Heth.”[j]
The Death and Burial of Jacob
33 When Jacob finished instructing his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, breathed his last breath, and was gathered to his people.
50 Joseph put his face against his father’s face, wept over him, and kissed him. 2 Joseph commanded the physicians who served him to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were set aside for him, for that is how many days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians mourned for him for seventy days.
4 When the days of mourning for Jacob were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh. He said, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak directly to Pharaoh for me and say 5 that my father made me take an oath. He said to me, ‘Look, I am dying. Bury me in my tomb that I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will return here again.”
6 Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.”
7 Joseph went up to bury his father, and all the officials of Pharaoh went up with him: the senior officials of Pharaoh’s household, all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 Both chariots and horsemen went up with him. It was a very great entourage.
10 They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is on the other side of the Jordan, and there they mourned with a very loud and bitter lament. Joseph mourned for his father seven days. 11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, witnessed the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very solemn mourning by the Egyptians.” That is why they named the place Abel Mizraim.[k] It is beyond the Jordan. 12 His sons did for him just what he commanded them to do: 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field at Machpelah, which Abraham had purchased along with the field. He purchased it from Ephron the Hittite, as a piece of property for a burial site near Mamre. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt—he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
Joseph and His Brothers
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and will pay us back in full for all of the evil that we did to him.”
16 They sent the following message to Joseph: “Before he died your father commanded us, 17 ‘You are to tell Joseph, “Please forgive the offense of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.”
Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 His brothers also came and fell down in front of him, and they said, “See now, we are your servants.”
19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring this to pass and to keep many people alive, as it is this day. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them and spoke to them in a kind way.
The Death of Joseph
22 Joseph lived in Egypt, he and his father’s household. Joseph lived one hundred ten years. 23 He saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Makir, the son of Manasseh, were placed on Joseph’s knees when they were born. 24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Joseph made the descendants of Israel swear an oath. He said, “God will surely visit you. Then you shall carry my bones up from here.” 26 So Joseph died when he was one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Mustard Seed and Yeast
31 He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 It is one of the smallest of seeds. But when it grows, it is larger than the other plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
33 He spoke another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and mixed into a bushel[a] of flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
34 Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the crowds. He did not speak to them without telling a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.[b]
Jesus Explains the Parable of the Weeds
36 Then Jesus sent the people away and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered them, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the Evil One. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are angels. 40 Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the world. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will pull out of his kingdom everything that causes sin[c] and those who continue to break the law. 42 The angels will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.
The Treasure, the Pearl, and the Net
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again. In his joy, he goes away and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls. 46 When he found one very valuable pearl, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When the net was filled, they pulled it onto the shore. They sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw the bad ones away. 49 That is how it will be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous who are among them. 50 And they will throw the wicked into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 51 Jesus said to them, “Did you understand all these things?”
They answered him, “Yes.”
52 He said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained as a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure both new things and old things.”
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.
A Prophet Without Honor
54 Jesus entered his hometown and taught in their synagogue. As a result, the people were amazed and said, “Where did this fellow get this wisdom and these miracles? 55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary? And aren’t James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? 56 And aren’t all of his sisters here with us? Where then did this fellow get all of these things?” 57 And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own hometown and in his own house.” 58 He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.