Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 so that[a] the inhabitants of the farthest reaches are in awe of your signs.
You make the dawn and sunset sing for joy.
9 You care for[b] the land[c] and water it;
you greatly enrich it.
The stream of God is filled with waters.
You provide their grain,
for so you have established it.
10 You drench its furrows,
penetrating its ridges.
With rains you soften it;
its growth you bless.
11 You crown the year with your bounty,[d]
and your wagon paths drip with richness.[e]
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
and the hills gird themselves with joy.
13 The pasturelands put on flocks,
and the valleys clothe themselves with grain.
They shout in triumph;
they even sing.
2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then he said, “I am the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I myself will also bring you up. And Joseph will place his hand over your eyes.” 5 So Jacob arose from Beersheba. And the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, and their little ones and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to transport him. 6 And they took their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan. And they came to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7 his sons and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters and his daughters’ daughters with him, into Egypt.
8 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob 9 and the sons of Reuben: Enoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar: Tolah, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah that she bore to Jacob in Paddan-Aram, and Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters were thirty-three persons in all. 16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and their sister Serah. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malkiel. 18 There are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob—sixteen persons. 19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And Ephraim and Manasseh, whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On bore to him, were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. 21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all. 23 The sons of Dan: Hushim. 24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These are the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob—seven persons in all. 26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt who were his descendants,[a] not including the wives of the sons of Jacob were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.
28 He[b] had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to appear before him[c] in Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell upon his neck and wept upon his neck a long time. 30 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die since I have seen your face, for you are still alive.” 31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and report to Pharaoh, and I will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. 32 And the men are shepherds, for they are men of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their cattle and all that they have.’ 33 And it shall be that when Pharaoh calls you he will say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 Then you must say, ‘You servants are men of livestock from our childhood until now, both we and also our ancestors,’[d] so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is a detestable thing to Egyptians.”
Jacob Settles in Goshen
47 So Joseph went and reported to Pharaoh. And he said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and their herds, and all that they have, have come from the land of Canaan. Now they are here in the land of Goshen.” 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are keepers of sheep, both we and also our ancestors.”[e] 4 And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servant’s flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen, and if you know there is among them men of ability, then appoint them overseers of my own livestock.” 7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Then Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”[f] 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty years. Few and hard have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the lives of my ancestors[g] in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and he went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 And Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and he gave them property in the land of Egypt in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had instructed. 12 And Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all the household of his father with food, according to the number of their children.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable can we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed that when sown on the ground, although it[a] is the smallest of all the seeds that are on the ground, 32 but when it is sown it grows up and becomes the largest of all the garden herbs, and sends out large branches so that the birds of the sky are able to nest in its shade.” 33 And with many parables such as these he was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it.[b] 34 And he did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.
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