Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
133 How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live in harmony! 2 For harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head and ran down onto his beard and onto the border of his robe. 3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew on Mount Hermon, on the mountains of Israel. And God has pronounced this eternal blessing on Jerusalem,[a] even life forevermore.
8 Then Israel looked over at the two boys. “Are these the ones?” he asked.
9 “Yes,” Joseph told him, “these are my sons whom God has given me here in Egypt.”
And Israel said, “Bring them over to me and I will bless them.”
10 Israel was half blind with age, so that he could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him and he kissed and embraced them.
11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought that I would see you again, but now God has let me see your children too.”
12-13 Joseph took the boys by the hand, bowed deeply to him, and led the boys to their grandfather’s knees—Ephraim at Israel’s left hand and Manasseh at his right. 14 But Israel crossed his arms as he stretched them out to lay his hands upon the boys’ heads, so that his right hand was upon the head of Ephraim, the younger boy, and his left hand was upon the head of Manasseh, the older. He did this purposely.
15 Then he blessed Joseph with this blessing: “May God, the God of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, the God who has shepherded me all my life, wonderfully bless these boys. 16 He is the Angel who has kept me from all harm. May these boys be an honor to my name and to the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they become a mighty nation.”
17 But Joseph was upset and displeased when he saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head; so he lifted it to place it on Manasseh’s head instead.
18 “No, Father,” he said. “You’ve got your right hand on the wrong head! This one over here is the older. Put your right hand on him!”
19 But his father refused. “I know what I’m doing, my son,” he said. “Manasseh too shall become a great nation, but his younger brother shall become even greater.”
20 So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “May the people of Israel bless each other by saying, ‘God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” (Note that he put Ephraim before Manasseh.)
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to Canaan, the land of your fathers. 22 And I have given the choice land of Shekem to you instead of to your brothers, as your portion of that land which I took from the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
23 Moses’ parents had faith too. When they saw that God had given them an unusual child, they trusted that God would save him from the death the king commanded, and they hid him for three months and were not afraid.
24-25 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the grandson of the king, but chose to share ill-treatment with God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He thought that it was better to suffer for the promised Christ than to own all the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the great reward that God would give him. 27 And it was because he trusted God that he left the land of Egypt and wasn’t afraid of the king’s anger. Moses kept right on going; it seemed as though he could see God right there with him. 28 And it was because he believed God would save his people that he commanded them to kill a lamb as God had told them to and sprinkle the blood on the doorposts of their homes so that God’s terrible Angel of Death could not touch the oldest child in those homes as he did among the Egyptians.
29 The people of Israel trusted God and went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians chasing them tried it, they all were drowned.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.