Today's Reading

¹Jacob called to his sons, and said: "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.

²Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.

³"Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.

⁴Boiling over as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.

⁵"Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence.

⁶My soul, do not come into their council. My glory, do not be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle.

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

⁸"Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down before you.

⁹Judah is a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.

¹¹Binding his foal to the vine, his donkey's colt to the choice vine; he has washed his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹²His eyes will be red with wine, his teeth white with milk.

¹³"Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Sidon.

¹⁴"Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags.

¹⁵He saw a resting place, that it was good, the land, that it was pleasant. He bows his shoulder to the burden, and becomes a servant doing forced labor.

¹⁶"Dan will judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷Dan will be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, That bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward.

¹⁸I have waited for your salvation, Lord.

¹⁹"A troop will press on Gad, but he will press on their heel.

²⁰"Asher's food will be rich. He will yield royal dainties.

²¹"Naphtali is a doe set free, who bears beautiful fawns.

²²"Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a spring. His branches run over the wall.

²³The archers have sorely grieved him, shot at him, and persecute him:

²⁴But his bow remained strong. The arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

²⁵even by the God of your father, who will help you; by the Almighty, who will bless you, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.

²⁶The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of your ancestors, above the boundaries of the ancient hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers.

²⁷"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the spoil."

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his blessing.

²⁹He instructed them, and said to them, "I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

³⁰in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.

³¹There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah:

³²the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth."

³³When Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people.

¹Joseph fell on his father's face, wept on him, and kissed him.

²Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel.

³Forty days were fulfilled for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for him for seventy days.

⁴When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,

⁵'My father made me swear, saying, "Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan." Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.'"

⁶Pharaoh said, "Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear."

⁷Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt,

⁸all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.

⁹There went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company.

¹⁰They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days.

¹¹When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians." Therefore, its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

¹²His sons did to him just as he commanded them,

¹³for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

¹⁴Joseph returned into Egypt-he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

¹⁵When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him."

¹⁶They sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father commanded before he died, saying,

¹⁷'You shall tell Joseph, "Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you."' Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."

¹⁹Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?

²⁰As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.

²¹Now therefore do not be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones." He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

²²Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father's house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years.

²³Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph's knees.

²⁴Joseph said to his brothers, "I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."

²⁵Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."

²⁶So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

¹Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

⁵All the souls who came out of Jacob's body were seventy-five souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already.

⁶Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation.

⁷The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

⁹He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.

¹⁰Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape out of the land."

¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.

¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel.

¹³The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,

¹⁴and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.

¹⁵The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,

¹⁶and he said, "When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."

¹⁷But the midwives feared God, and did not do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.

¹⁸The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and have saved the boys alive?"

¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them."

²⁰God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.

²¹It happened, because the midwives feared God, that he gave them families.

²²Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."

¹After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, Jacob, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves.

²He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.

³Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.

⁴Peter answered, and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let us make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

⁵While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him."

⁶When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid.

⁷Jesus came and touched them and said, "Get up, and do not be afraid."

⁸Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus alone.

⁹As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Do not tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."

¹⁰The disciples asked him, saying, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"

¹¹He answered them, "Elijah indeed comes first, and will restore all things,

¹²but I tell you that Elijah has come already, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted to. Even so the Son of Man will also suffer by them."

¹³Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist.

¹⁴When they came to the multitude, a man came to him, kneeling down to him, saying,

¹⁵"Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is epileptic, and suffers grievously; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water.

¹⁶So I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him."

¹⁷Jesus answered, "Faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? Bring him here to me."

¹⁸Jesus rebuked him, the demon went out of him, and the boy was cured from that hour.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately, and said, "Why weren't we able to cast it out?"

²⁰So he said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." [

²¹But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.]

²²While they were together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be delivered up into the hands of men,

²³and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up." They were exceedingly sorry.

²⁴When they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the didrachma coins came to Peter, and said, "Does not your teacher pay the didrachma?"

²⁵He said, "Yes." When he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive toll or tribute? From their children, or from strangers?"

²⁶He said to him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Therefore the children are exempt.

²⁷But, lest we cause them to stumble, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up. When you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater coin. Take that, and give it to them for me and you."

¹ Hear, Lord, my righteous plea; Give ear to my prayer, that doesn't go out of deceitful lips.

²Let my sentence come forth from your presence. Let your eyes look on equity.

³You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.

⁴As for the works of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.

⁵My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped.

⁶I have called on you, for you will answer me, God. Turn your ear to me. Hear my speech.

⁷Show your marvelous loving kindness, you who save those who take refuge by your right hand from their enemies.

⁸Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings,

⁹from the wicked who oppress me, my deadly enemies, who surround me.

¹⁰They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly.

¹¹They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.

¹²He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³Arise, Lord, confront him. Cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword;

¹⁴from men by your hand, Lord, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.

¹⁵As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.

¹Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who causes shame, and shall have a part in the inheritance among the brothers.

³The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts.

⁴An evildoer heeds wicked lips. A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

⁵Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker. He who is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished.

⁶Children's children are the crown of old men; the glory of children are their parents.

⁷Arrogant speech isn't fitting for a fool, much less do lying lips fit a prince.

⁸A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of him who gives it; wherever he turns, he prospers.

⁹He who covers an offense promotes love; but he who repeats a matter separates best friends.

¹⁰A rebuke enters deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred lashes into a fool.

¹¹An evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

¹²Let a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

¹³Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam, therefore stop contention before quarreling breaks out.

¹⁵He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

¹⁶Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, seeing he has no understanding?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes collateral in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁹He who loves disobedience loves strife. One who builds a high gate seeks destruction.

²⁰One who has a perverse heart doesn't find prosperity, and one who has a deceitful tongue falls into trouble.

²¹He who becomes the father of a fool grieves. The father of a fool has no joy.

²²A cheerful heart makes good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

²³A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, to pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is before the face of one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son brings grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.

²⁶Also to punish the righteous is not good, nor to flog officials for their integrity.

²⁷He who spares his words has knowledge. He who is even tempered is a man of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is counted wise. When he shuts his lips, he is thought to be discerning.