Readings for Celebrating Advent

² God spoke to Israel through night visions, addressing him, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am!” Jacob^[a] replied.

³ “I’m God, your father’s God. Don’t be afraid to move down to Egypt, because I’m going to turn you into a mighty nation there. ⁴ I’m going down with you to Egypt, and I’m certainly going to bring you back again. And Joseph himself will be with you when you die.”^{[b] 5} So Jacob got up and left Beer-sheba, and Israel’s sons carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives in the transport wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry them.