Readings for Celebrating Advent

² God spoke to Israel in a vision at night. “Jacob! Jacob!” he said.

“Here I am,” Jacob replied.

³ “I am God. I am the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt. There I will make you into a great nation. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you. I will surely bring you back again. And when you die, Joseph will close your eyes with his own hand.”

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons put their father Jacob and their families in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.