Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 They who dwell at the (A)ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the [a]sunrise and the sunset shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and (B)cause it to overflow;
You greatly (C)enrich it;
The [b](D)stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their (E)grain, for so You prepare [c]the earth.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
You [d]settle its ridges,
You soften it (F)with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You have crowned the year [e]with Your (G)goodness,
And Your [f]paths (H)drip with fatness.
12 (I)The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the (J)hills encircle themselves with rejoicing.
13 The meadows are (K)clothed with flocks
And the valleys are (L)covered with grain;
They (M)shout for joy, yes, they sing.
2 And (A)God spoke to Israel [a]in visions of the night and said, “(B)Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then He said, “(C)I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will (D)make you into a great nation there. 4 (E)I will go down with you to Egypt, and (F)I will also assuredly bring you up again; and (G)Joseph will [b]close your eyes.”
5 Then Jacob left Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the (H)wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They also took their livestock and their possessions, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and (I)came to Egypt, Jacob and all his [c]descendants with him: 7 his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his [d]descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
Those Who Came to Egypt
8 Now these are the (J)names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. 9 And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 And the (K)sons of Simeon: [e]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, [f]Jachin, [g]Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 And the sons of Levi: [h]Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 And the sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the (L)sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 And the sons of Issachar: Tola, [i]Puvvah, [j]Iob, and Shimron. 14 And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; [k]all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. 16 And the (M)sons of Gad: [l]Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, [m]Ezbon, Eri, [n]Arodi, and Areli. 17 And the (N)sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. And the (O)sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and she bore to Jacob these sixteen persons. 19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 (P)Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. 21 And the (Q)sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, [o]Ehi, Rosh, [p]Muppim, [q]Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; there were fourteen persons in all. 23 And the sons of Dan: [r]Hushim. 24 And the sons of Naphtali: [s]Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and [t]Shillem. 25 These are the (R)sons of Bilhah, whom (S)Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all. 26 (T)All the people belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, [u]his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all, 27 and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were [v]two; (U)all the people of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.
28 Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to [w]guide him to (V)Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 And Joseph [x]prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared to him, Joseph threw himself on his neck and (W)wept on his neck a long time. 30 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.” 31 But Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “(X)I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and 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 have been [y]keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls for you and says, ‘(Y)What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been [z](Z)keepers of livestock since our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of (AA)Goshen; for every shepherd is an (AB)abomination to the Egyptians.”
Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen
47 Then (AC)Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of (AD)Goshen.” 2 And he took five men from among his brothers and (AE)presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “(AF)What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are (AG)shepherds, both we and our fathers.” 4 They also said to Pharaoh, “(AH)We have come to reside in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for (AI)the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants (AJ)live in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to [aa]Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is [ab]at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in (AK)the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any (AL)capable men among them, then [ac]put them in charge of my livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and [ad]presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob (AM)blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many [ae]years have you lived?” 9 So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The [af](AN)years of my living abroad are [ag]130; few and [ah]unpleasant have been the [ai]years of my life, nor have they [aj]attained (AO)the [ak]years [al]that my fathers lived during the days of their living abroad.” 10 So Jacob (AP)blessed Pharaoh, and went out from [am]his presence. 11 Now Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in (AQ)the best of the land, in the land of (AR)Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered. 12 Joseph also (AS)provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with [an]food, according to the [ao]number of their little ones.
Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 (A)And He was saying, “How shall we [a](B)picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is the smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants, and forms large branches, with the result that (C)the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.”
33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to [b]understand it; 34 and He did not speak to them (D)without a parable; but He was (E)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.