VayigashAnd he drew near

1Reading 1 Genesis 44:18–30Chapter page with footnotes →

Judah Pleads for Benjamin

^44:18And Judah came near to him, and said, "Oh, my lord, let your servant, I pray, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. ¹⁹My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?'

²⁰And we said to my lord, 'We have an old father, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.'

²¹And you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, that I may set my eye upon him.'

²²And we said to my lord, 'The lad cannot leave his father; for if he leaves his father, he will die.'

²³And you said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.'

²⁴And it came to pass, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord.

²⁵And our father said, 'Return, buy us a little food.'

²⁶And we said, 'We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the man's face if our youngest brother is not with us.'

²⁷And your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two; ²⁸and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn, torn in pieces"; and I have not seen him until now. ²⁹And if you take this one also from before my face, and harm befalls him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.'

³⁰And now, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us — and his soul is bound up with his soul —

2Reading 2 Genesis 44:31–45:7Chapter page with footnotes →

^44:31it will come to pass, when he sees that the lad is not, that he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father in sorrow to Sheol. ³²For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him to you, then I will have sinned against my father all the days.'

³³And now, let your servant, I pray, remain instead of the lad as a servant to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. ³⁴For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me? — lest I look upon the evil that would find my father."

Joseph Reveals His Identity

^45:1And Joseph could not restrain himself before all who stood by him, and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me." And no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ²And he gave his voice in weeping, and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.

³And Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; is my father still alive?" And his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed before his face.

⁴And Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, I pray." And they came near. And he said, "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵And now, do not be grieved, and let it not be kindled in your eyes, that you sold me here; for to preserve life God sent me before you. ⁶For these two years the famine has been in the midst of the land, and there are yet five years in which there is neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷And God sent me before you to set for you a remnant in the land, and to keep you alive for a great deliverance.

3Reading 3 Genesis 45:8–18Chapter page with footnotes →

^45:8And now, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Joseph Sends for His Father

⁹Hasten and go up to my father, and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not stay. ¹⁰And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your sons and your sons' sons, and your flocks and your herds, and all that is yours. ¹¹And I will sustain you there — for there are yet five years of famine — lest you and your house and all that is yours come to poverty.'

¹²And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³And you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hasten and bring down my father here."

¹⁴And he fell upon the neck of Benjamin his brother and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. ¹⁵And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers spoke with him.

Pharaoh Invites Jacob to Egypt

¹⁶And the voice was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come"; and it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.

¹⁷And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers, 'This do: load your beasts and go, come to the land of Canaan; ¹⁸and take your father and your households, and come to me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.'

4Reading 4 Genesis 45:19–27Chapter page with footnotes →

^45:19And you are commanded: 'This do: take for yourselves wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and carry your father, and come. ²⁰And let not your eye spare your vessels; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.'"

²¹And the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons according to the mouth of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. ²²To all of them he gave, to each man, changes of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred of silver and five changes of garments. ²³And to his father he sent according to this: ten donkeys carrying of the good of Egypt, and ten she-donkeys carrying grain and bread and food for his father for the way.

²⁴And he sent his brothers away, and they went; and he said to them, "Do not be agitated on the way."

The Revival of Jacob

²⁵And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. ²⁶And they told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." And his heart grew numb, for he did not believe them. ²⁷And they spoke to him all the words of Joseph which he had spoken to them; and he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, and the spirit of Jacob their father revived.

5Reading 5 Genesis 45:28–46:27Chapter page with footnotes →

^45:28And Israel said, "It is much! Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."

Jacob’s Journey to Egypt

^46:1And Israel journeyed with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and sacrificed sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ²And God said to Israel in the visions of the night, and he said, "Jacob, Jacob"; and he said, "Here am I."

³And he said, "I am the God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. ⁴I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I myself will also surely bring you up; and Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes."

⁵And Jacob rose up from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶And they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him —

Those Who Went to Egypt

⁷his sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters, and all his seed he brought with him to Egypt.

⁸And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt: Jacob and his sons. The firstborn of Jacob: Reuben.

⁹And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

¹⁰And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of the Canaanite woman.

¹¹And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹²And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puvah, and Iob, and Shimron.

¹⁴And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.

¹⁵These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with Dinah his daughter; all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.

¹⁶And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.

¹⁸These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob — sixteen souls.

¹⁹The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁰And to Joseph, in the land of Egypt, were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bore to him.

²¹And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

²²These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; all the souls were fourteen.

²³And the sons of Dan: Hushim.

²⁴And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

²⁵These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob — all the souls were seven.

²⁶All the souls coming with Jacob to Egypt, who came out of his loins, besides the wives of Jacob's sons — all the souls were sixty-six. ²⁷And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two souls; all the souls of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.

6Reading 6 Genesis 46:28–47:10Chapter page with footnotes →

Jacob Arrives in Egypt

^46:28And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to give direction before him to Goshen; and they came to the land of Goshen. ²⁹And Joseph harnessed his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father at Goshen; and he presented himself to him, and fell upon his neck, and wept upon his neck a long while.

³⁰And Israel said to Joseph, "Let me die this time, after my seeing your face, for you are still alive."

³¹And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's house, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, 'My brothers and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me; ³²and the men are shepherds of flocks, for they have been men of livestock; and their flocks and their herds and all that they have they have brought.'

³³And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh calls you and says, 'What are your works?' ³⁴then you shall say, 'Your servants have been men of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers' — so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd of flocks is an abomination to the Egyptians."

Jacob Settles in Goshen

^47:1And Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, and their flocks and their herds, and all that they have, have come from the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen."

²And from the whole of his brothers he took five men, and presented them before Pharaoh.

³And Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your work?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds of flocks, both we and our fathers."

⁴And they said to Pharaoh, "To sojourn in the land we have come, for there is no pasture for the flocks that belong to your servants, for the famine is heavy in the land of Canaan; and now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."

⁵And Pharaoh said to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶The land of Egypt is before you; in the best of the land settle your father and your brothers; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know that there are among them men of ability, then set them as rulers of livestock over what is mine."

⁷And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

⁸And Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of your life?"

⁹And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my sojournings are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojournings."

¹⁰And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

7Reading 7 Genesis 47:11–27Chapter page with footnotes →

^47:11And Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and gave to them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹²And Joseph sustained his father, and his brothers, and all his father's house, with bread, according to the mouth of the little ones.

The Famine Continues

¹³And there was no bread in all the land, for the famine was very heavy; and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ¹⁴And Joseph gathered all the silver that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain that they were buying; and Joseph brought the silver into Pharaoh's house. ¹⁵And when the silver was spent from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, saying, "Give us bread; and why should we die before you? For the silver has failed."

¹⁶And Joseph said, "Give your livestock, and I will give to you for your livestock, if the silver has failed." ¹⁷And they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread for the horses, and for the livestock of the flock, and for the livestock of the herd, and for the donkeys; and he provided them with bread for all their livestock that year.

¹⁸And that year was ended, and they came to him in the second year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that the silver is spent, and the livestock of the cattle is my lord's; there is nothing left before my lord except our bodies and our ground. ¹⁹Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our ground? Buy us and our ground for bread, and we and our ground will be servants to Pharaoh; and give seed, that we may live and not die, and that the ground be not desolate."

²⁰And Joseph bought all the ground of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold each man his field, because the famine was strong upon them; and the land became Pharaoh's. ²¹And the people he removed to the cities, from one end of the border of Egypt even to its other end. ²²Only the ground of the priests he did not buy, for a statute was for the priests from Pharaoh, and they ate their statute which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their ground.

²³And Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have bought you this day, and your ground, for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the ground. ²⁴And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four of the parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for those in your houses, and for food for your little ones."

²⁵And they said, "You have kept us alive; let us find favor in the eyes of my lord, and we will be servants to Pharaoh." ²⁶And Joseph set it for a statute, unto this day, upon the ground of Egypt, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the ground of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.

The Israelites Prosper in Goshen

²⁷And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got possessions in it, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.

PEzekiel 37:15–28Chapter page with footnotes →

One Nation with One King

^37:15And the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ¹⁶And you, son of man, take to yourself one stick, and write upon it: For Judah, and for the sons of Israel his companions; then take another stick, and write upon it: For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his companions. ¹⁷And join them one to another for yourself into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

¹⁸And when the sons of your people speak to you, saying: Will you not tell us what these mean to you? ¹⁹speak to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will put them with it—the stick of Judah—and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.

²⁰And the sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. ²¹And speak to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and gather them from every side, and bring them to their own ground. ²²And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more.

²³And they shall no more defile themselves with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; and I will save them out of all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²⁴And my servant David shall be king over them, and one shepherd shall be for them all; and they shall walk in my judgments, and keep my statutes, and do them.

²⁵And they shall dwell on the land which I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell on it, they and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David my servant shall be their prince forever. ²⁶And I will make for them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever. ²⁷And my tabernacle shall be over them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸And the nations shall know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever.

AActs 7:14–16Chapter page with footnotes →

^7:14Then Joseph sent and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five souls in all.

Israel Oppressed in Egypt

¹⁵And Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there. ¹⁶And they were moved to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had purchased for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem.