Readings for Celebrating Advent

² That night, God spoke to him in a dream and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” Jacob answered.

³ God said, “I am God, the same God your father worshiped. Don't be afraid to go to Egypt. I will give you so many descendants that one day they will become a nation. ⁴ I will go with you to Egypt, and later I will bring your descendants back here. Your son Joseph will be at your side when you die.”

^5-7 (A) Jacob and his family set out from Beersheba and headed for Egypt. His sons put him in the wagon that the king^[a] had sent for him, and they put their small children and their wives in the other wagons. Jacob's whole family went to Egypt, including his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters. They took along their animals and everything else they owned.