Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You make the outgoings of the morning and evening [a]rejoice.
9 You [b]visit the earth and (A)water it,
You greatly enrich it;
(B)The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
10 You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
(C)The valleys also are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, they also sing.
2 Then God spoke to Israel (A)in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
3 So He said, “I am God, (B)the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will (C)make of you a great nation there. 4 (D)I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely (E)bring you up again; and (F)Joseph [a]will put his hand on your eyes.”
5 Then (G)Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the [b]carts (H)which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, (I)Jacob and all his descendants with him. 7 His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
8 Now (J)these were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: (K)Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. 9 The (L)sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 (M)The sons of Simeon were [c]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, [d]Jachin, [e]Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of (N)Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of (O)Judah were (P)Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). (Q)The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar were Tola, [f]Puvah, [g]Job, and Shimron. 14 The (R)sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These were the (S)sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.
16 The sons of Gad were [h]Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, [i]Ezbon, Eri, [j]Arodi, and Areli. 17 (T)The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. 18 (U)These were the sons of Zilpah, (V)whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.
19 The (W)sons of Rachel, (X)Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. 20 (Y)And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. 21 (Z)The sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, (AA)Ehi, Rosh, (AB)Muppim, [k]Huppim, and Ard. 22 These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all.
23 The son of Dan was [l]Hushim. 24 (AC)The sons of Naphtali were [m]Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and [n]Shillem. 25 (AD)These were the sons of Bilhah, (AE)whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all.
26 (AF)All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, (AG)besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. (AH)All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
Jacob Settles in Goshen
28 Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, (AI)to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came (AJ)to the land of Goshen. 29 So Joseph made ready his (AK)chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and (AL)fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, (AM)“Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”
31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, (AN)“I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are (AO)shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’ 33 So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, (AP)‘What is your occupation?’ 34 that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ (AQ)occupation has been with livestock (AR)from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is (AS)an[o] abomination to the Egyptians.”
Joseph Is Governor of Egypt
47 Then Joseph (AT)went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in (AU)the land of Goshen.” 2 And he took five men from among his brothers and (AV)presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, (AW)“What is your occupation?”
And they said to Pharaoh, (AX)“Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” 4 And they said to Pharaoh, (AY)“We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, (AZ)for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants (BA)dwell in the land of Goshen.”
5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 (BB)The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell (BC)in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob (BD)blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, (BE)“The days of the years of my [p]pilgrimage are (BF)one hundred and thirty years; (BG)few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and (BH)they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 10 So Jacob (BI)blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of (BJ)Rameses, (BK)as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Then Joseph provided (BL)his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed(A)
30 Then He said, (B)“To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? 31 It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; 32 but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”
Jesus’ Use of Parables
33 (C)And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34 But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, (D)He explained all things to His disciples.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.