Through the Bible – Day 18

₁Since Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants, he sent them out of the room. When he was alone with his brothers, he told them, “I am Joseph.” ₂Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king's palace.

₃Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer. ₄Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said:

₁₄Joseph and Benjamin hugged each other and started crying. ₁₅Joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers. After this, they started talking with Joseph.

₁₆When it was told in the palace that Joseph's brothers had come, the king and his officials were happy. ₁₇So the king said to Joseph:

₂₁Jacob's sons agreed to do what the king had said. And Joseph gave them wagons and food for their trip home, just as the king had ordered. ₂₂Joseph gave some new clothes to each of his brothers, but to Benjamin he gave five new outfits and three hundred pieces of silver. ₂₃To his father he sent ten donkeys loaded with the best things in Egypt, and ten other donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other food for the return trip. ₂₄Then he sent his brothers off and told them, “Don't argue on the way home!”

₂₅Joseph's brothers left Egypt, and when they arrived in Canaan, ₂₆they told their father that Joseph was still alive and was the ruler of Egypt. But their father was so surprised that he could not believe them. ₂₇Then they told him everything Joseph had said. When he saw the wagons Joseph had sent, he felt much better ₂₈and said, “Now I can believe you! My son Joseph must really be alive, and I will get to see him before I die.”

₁Jacob packed up everything he owned and left for Egypt. On the way he stopped near the town of Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God his father Isaac had worshipped. ₂That night, God spoke to him and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” Jacob answered.

₃God said, “I am God, the same God your father worshipped. Don't be afraid to go to Egypt. I will give you so many descendants that one day they will become a nation. ₄I 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.”

_5-7Jacob and his family set out from Beersheba and headed for Egypt. His sons put him in the wagon that the king 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.

_8-15When Jacob went to Egypt, his children who were born in northern Syria also went along with their families.

Jacob and his wife Leah had a total of thirty-three children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but two of their grandchildren had died in Canaan.

_16-18Jacob and Zilpah, the servant woman Laban had given his daughter Leah, had a total of sixteen children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

_19-22Jacob and Rachel had fourteen children and grandchildren.

_23-25Jacob and Bilhah, the servant woman Laban had given his daughter Rachel, had seven children and grandchildren.

₂₆Sixty-six members of Jacob's family went to Egypt with him, not counting his daughters-in-law. ₂₇Jacob's two grandsons who were born there made it a total of seventy members of Jacob's family in Egypt.

₂₈Jacob had sent his son Judah ahead of him to ask Joseph to meet them in Goshen. ₂₉So Joseph got in his chariot and went to meet his father. When they met, Joseph hugged his father around the neck and cried for a long time. ₃₀Jacob said to Joseph, “Now that I have seen you and know you are still alive, I am ready to die.”

₃₁Then Joseph said to his brothers and to everyone who had come with them:

Joseph wanted them to say this to the king, because the Egyptians did not like to have anything to do with people who raised sheep.

_1-2Joseph took five of his brothers to the king and told him, “My father and my brothers have come from Canaan. They have brought their sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else they own to the region of Goshen.”

Then he introduced his brothers to the king, ₃who asked them, “What do you do for a living?”

“Sir, we are shepherds,” was their answer. “Our families have always raised sheep. ₄But in our country all the pastures are dried up, and our sheep have no grass to eat. So we, your servants, have come here. Please let us live in the region of Goshen.”

₅The king said to Joseph, “It's good that your father and brothers have arrived. ₆I will let them live anywhere they choose in the land of Egypt, but I suggest that they settle in Goshen, the best part of our land. I would also like your finest shepherds to look after my own sheep and goats.”

₇Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and introduced him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing, ₈and the king asked him, “How old are you?”

₉Jacob answered, “I have lived only a hundred and thirty years, and I have had to move from place to place. My parents and my grandparents also had to move from place to place. But they lived much longer, and their life was not as hard as mine.” ₁₀Then Jacob gave the king his blessing once again and left. ₁₁Joseph obeyed the king's orders and gave his father and brothers some of the best land in Egypt near the city of Rameses. ₁₂Joseph also provided food for their families.

₁₃The famine was bad everywhere in Egypt and Canaan, and the people were suffering terribly. ₁₄So Joseph sold them the grain that had been stored up, and he put the money in the king's treasury. ₁₅But when everyone had run out of money, the Egyptians came to Joseph and demanded, “Give us more grain! If you don't, we'll soon be dead, because our money's all gone.”

₁₆“If you don't have any money,” Joseph answered, “give me your animals, and I'll let you have some grain.” ₁₇From then on, they brought him their horses and donkeys and their sheep and goats in exchange for grain.

Within a year Joseph had collected every animal in Egypt. ₁₈Then the people came to him and said:

₂₀The famine became so severe that Joseph finally bought every piece of land in Egypt for the king ₂₁and made everyone the king's slaves, ₂₂except the priests. The king gave the priests a regular food allowance, so they did not have to sell their land. ₂₃Then Joseph said to the people, “You and your land now belong to the king. I'm giving you seed to plant, ₂₄but one-fifth of your crops must go to the king. You can keep the rest as seed or as food for your families.”

₂₅“Sir, you have saved our lives!” they answered. “We are glad to be slaves of the king.” ₂₆Then Joseph made a law that one-fifth of the harvest would always belong to the king. Only the priests did not lose their land.

₂₇The people of Israel made their home in the land of Goshen, where they became prosperous and had large families. ₂₈Jacob himself lived there for seventeen years, before dying at the age of one hundred and forty-seven. ₂₉When Jacob knew he did not have long to live, he called in Joseph and said, “If you really love me, you must make a solemn promise not to bury me in Egypt. ₃₀Instead, bury me in the place where my ancestors are buried.”

“I will do what you have asked,” Joseph answered.

₃₁“Will you give me your word?” Jacob asked.

“Yes, I will,” Joseph promised. After this, Jacob bowed down and prayed at the head of his bed.

₁₅When Jesus found out what was happening, he left there and large crowds followed him. He healed all their sick, ₁₆but warned them not to tell anyone about him. ₁₇So God's promise came true, just as Isaiah the prophet had said,

₂₂Some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon in him. Jesus healed the man, and then he was able to talk and see. ₂₃The crowds were so amazed that they asked, “Could Jesus be the Son of David?”

₂₄When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “He forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!”

₂₅Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said to them: