Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Now the famine was severe in the land.

²So it came about, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”

³Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “The man sternly warned us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’

⁴If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.

⁵But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”

⁶Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, by telling the man whether you still had another brother?”

⁷But they said, “The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸So Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones.

⁹I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then you can let me take the blame forever.

¹⁰For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man as a gift, a little balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

¹²And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake.

¹³Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man;

¹⁴and may God Almighty grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved!”

¹⁵So the men took this gift, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they set out and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his house steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make preparations; for the men are to dine with me at noon.”

¹⁷So the man did as Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph’s house.

¹⁸Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, so that he may attack us and overpower us, and take us as slaves with our donkeys.”

¹⁹So they approached Joseph’s house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house,

²⁰and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,

²¹and it happened when we came to the campsite, that we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the opening of his sack, our money in full. So we have brought it back in our hand.

²²We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.”

²³But he said, “Peace be to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your money was in my possession.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed.

²⁵So they prepared the gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat a meal there.

²⁶When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the gift which was in their hand, and they bowed down to the ground before him.

²⁷Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, “Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” Then they bowed down again in homage.

²⁹And as he raised his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

³⁰Joseph then hurried out, for he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he looked for a place to weep; so he entered his chamber and wept there.

³¹Then he washed his face and came out; and he controlled himself and said, “Serve the meal.”

³²Then they served him by himself, and Joseph’s brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

³³Now they were seated before him, from the firstborn according to his birthright to the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.

³⁴Then he took portions to them from his own table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank freely with him.

¹Then he commanded his house steward, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the opening of his sack.

²And put my cup, the silver cup, in the opening of the sack of the youngest, and his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph had told him.

³As soon as it was light, the men were sent away, they with their donkeys.

⁴They had just left the city, and were not far away, when Joseph said to his house steward, “Up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?

⁵Is this not that from which my lord drinks, and which he indeed uses for divination? You have done wrong in doing this!’ ”

⁶So he overtook them and spoke these words to them.

⁷And they said to him, “Why does my lord say such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!

⁸Behold, the money which we found in the opening of our sacks we have brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?

⁹With whomever of your servants it is found, he shall die, and we also shall be my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰So he said, “Now let it indeed be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, but the rest of you shall be considered innocent.”

¹¹Then they hurried, each man lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack.

¹²And he searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

¹³Then they tore their clothes in grief, and when each man had loaded his donkey, they returned to the city.

¹⁴When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there, and they fell down to the ground before him.

¹⁵Joseph said to them, “What is this thing that you have done? Do you not know that a man who is like me can indeed practice divination?”

¹⁶So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What words can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been found.”

¹⁷But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose possession the cup has been found, he shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸Then Judah approached him and said, “Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to 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 little boy born in our father’s old age. Now his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’

²¹Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I may set my eyes on him.’

²²But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’

²³You said to your servants, however, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’

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

²⁵And our father said, ‘Go back, buy us a little food.’

²⁶But 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 unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²⁷Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons;

²⁸and the one left me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since.

²⁹If you also take this one from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’

³⁰So now, when I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us—since our father’s life is so attached to the boy’s life—

³¹when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. So your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant, our father, down to Sheol in sorrow.

³²For your servant accepted responsibility for the boy from my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then my father can let me take the blame forever.’

³³So now, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers.

³⁴For how shall I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear that I may see the evil that would overtake my father.”

¹Then Joseph could not control himself in front of everyone standing before him, and he shouted, “Have everyone leave me!” So there was no one with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

²Then he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard about it.

³And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were terrified in his presence.

⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold to Egypt.

⁵Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to save lives.

⁶For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.

⁷So God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.

⁸Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

⁹Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.

¹⁰For you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your grandchildren, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.

¹¹There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.” ’

¹²Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you.

¹³Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here.”

¹⁴Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.

¹⁵And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶Now when the news was heard in Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.

¹⁷Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your livestock and go to the land of Canaan,

¹⁸and take your father and your households and come to me; and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’

¹⁹Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come.

²⁰And do not concern yourselves with your property, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”

²¹Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.

²²To each of them he gave changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.

²³And to his father he sent the following: ten male donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and sustenance for his father on the journey.

²⁴So he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the journey.”

²⁵Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob.

²⁶And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But he was stunned, for he did not believe them.

²⁷When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, then the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

²⁸Then Israel said, “It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

¹So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

²And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”

³Then He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

⁴I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also assuredly bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes.”

⁵Then Jacob left Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

⁶They also took their livestock and their possessions, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him:

⁷his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

⁸Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

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

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

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

¹²And the sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, 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, Puvvah, Iob, and Shimron.

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

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

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

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

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

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

²⁰Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.

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

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

²³And the sons of Dan: Hushim.

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

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

²⁶All the people belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all,

²⁷and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the people of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.

²⁸Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to guide him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

²⁹And Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared to him, Joseph threw himself on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

³⁰Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”

³¹But Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me;

³²and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’

³³When Pharaoh calls for you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’

³⁴you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock since our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

¹Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”

²And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.

³Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.”

⁴They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to reside in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

⁵Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

⁶The land of Egypt is at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

⁸And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many years have you lived?”

⁹So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my living abroad are 130; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their living abroad.”

¹⁰So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence.

¹¹Now Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered.

¹²Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their little ones.

¹³Now there was no food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.

¹⁴And Joseph collected all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in payment for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

¹⁵When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph saying, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.”

¹⁶Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is gone.”

¹⁷So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.

¹⁸But when that year ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord the fact that our money is all spent, and the livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our lands.

¹⁹Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

²⁰So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s.

²¹As for the people, he relocated them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other.

²²Only the land of the priests he did not buy, because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land.

²³Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, today I have purchased you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land.

²⁴At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food, and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

²⁵So they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”

²⁶Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, valid to this day, that Pharaoh was to have the fifth; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous.

²⁸And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years; so the length of Jacob’s life was 147 years.

²⁹When the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your sight, place your hand under my thigh now and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness: please do not bury me in Egypt,

³⁰but when I lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹And he said, “Swear to me.” So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.

¹Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.

²When it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed.

³Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,

⁴and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

⁵Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.

⁶But your children that you have fathered after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.

⁷Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath. I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”

⁹And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, so that I may bless them.”

¹⁰Now the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. And Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

¹¹And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well!”

¹²Then Joseph took them from his knees, and bowed with his face to the ground.

¹³And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him.

¹⁴But Israel reached out his right hand and placed it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵And he blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

¹⁶The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the boys; And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

¹⁸And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’ ” And so he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.

²²And I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

¹Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves, so that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.

²Gather together and listen, sons of Jacob; Yes, listen to Israel your father.

³“Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

⁴Uncontrollable as water, you shall not have preeminence, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

⁵“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence.

⁶May my soul not enter into their council; May my glory not be united with their assembly; For in their anger they killed men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen.

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them in Jacob, And disperse them among Israel.

⁸“As for you, Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

⁹Judah is a lion’s cub; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares to stir him up?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

¹¹He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹²His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.

¹³“Zebulun will reside at the seashore; And he shall be a harbor for ships, And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

¹⁴“Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between the sheepfolds.

¹⁵When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to carry burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.

¹⁶“Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned viper in the path, That bites the horse’s heels, So that its rider falls backward.

¹⁸For Your salvation I wait, LORD.

¹⁹“As for Gad, a band of raiders shall attack him, But he will attack at their heels.

²⁰“As for Asher, his food shall be rich, And he will yield royal delicacies.

²¹“Naphtali is a doe let loose; He utters beautiful words.

²²“Joseph is a fruitful branch, A fruitful branch by a spring; Its branches hang over a wall.

²³The archers provoked him, And shot at him and were hostile toward him;

²⁴But his bow remained firm, And his arms were agile, From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

²⁵From the God of your father who helps you, And by the Almighty who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

²⁶The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the furthest boundary of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the top of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

²⁷“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoils.”

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him.

²⁹Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about 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 opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

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

³²the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.”

³³When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

¹Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him.

²Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.

³Now forty days were required for it, for such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

⁴When the days of mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying,

⁵‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now then, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’ ”

⁶Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

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

⁸and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen.

⁹Chariots with teams of horses also went up with him; and it was a very great company.

¹⁰When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they mourned there with a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed seven days of mourning for his father.

¹¹Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

¹²And so his sons did for him as he had commanded them;

¹³for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah opposite Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

¹⁴And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵When Joseph’s brothers had seen that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!”

¹⁶So they sent instructions to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded us before he died, saying,

¹⁷‘This is what you shall say to Joseph: “Please forgive, I beg you, the offense of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.” ’ And now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

¹⁹But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place?

²⁰As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.

²¹So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

²²Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived 110 years.

²³Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees.

²⁴Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will assuredly take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

²⁵Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will assuredly take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”

²⁶So Joseph died at the age of 110 years; and they embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

¹Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came, each one with his household:

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

⁵All the people who descended from Jacob were seventy people, but Joseph was already in Egypt.

⁶And Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.

⁷But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

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

⁹And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.

¹⁰Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.”

¹¹So they appointed taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses.

¹²But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they dreaded the sons of Israel.

¹³The Egyptians used violence to compel the sons of Israel to labor;

¹⁴and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they violently had them perform as slaves.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah, and the other was named Puah;

¹⁶and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”

¹⁷But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.

¹⁸So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?”

¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”

²⁰So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.

²¹And because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.

²²Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born, you are to throw into the Nile, but every daughter, you are to keep alive.”

¹Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi.

²And the woman conceived and gave birth to a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months.

³But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch. Then she put the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.

⁴And his sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

⁵Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her female attendants walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave woman, and she brought it to her.

⁶When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a woman for you who is nursing from the Hebrew women, so that she may nurse the child for you?”

⁸Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother.

⁹Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.

¹⁰And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

¹¹Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his fellow Hebrews and looked at their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his fellow Hebrews.

¹²So he looked this way and that, and when he saw that there was no one around, he struck and killed the Egyptian, and hid his body in the sand.

¹³Now he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, “Why are you striking your companion?”

¹⁴But he said, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known!”

¹⁵When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

¹⁷Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.

¹⁸When they came to their father Reuel, he said, “Why have you come back so soon today?”

¹⁹They said, “An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds, and what is more, he even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

²⁰So he said to his daughters, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”

²¹And Moses was willing to live with the man. And he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses.

²²Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

²³Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage ascended to God.

²⁴So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

²⁵And God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.

¹Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

²Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not being consumed.

³So Moses said, “I must turn aside and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burning up!”

⁴When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

⁶And He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷And the LORD said, “I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.

⁸So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

⁹And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

¹⁰And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

¹¹But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

¹²And He said, “Assuredly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”

¹³Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

¹⁴And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

¹⁵God furthermore said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is the name for all generations to use to call upon Me.

¹⁶Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.

¹⁷So I said, I will bring you up out of the oppression of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

¹⁸Then they will pay attention to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’

¹⁹But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion.

²⁰So I will reach out with My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.

²¹I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.

²²But every woman shall ask her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”

¹Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’ ”

²The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.”

³Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it turned into a serpent; and Moses fled from it.

⁴But the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into a staff in his hand—

⁵“so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

⁶The LORD furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand inside the fold of your robe.” So he put his hand inside the fold, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.

⁷Then He said, “Put your hand inside the fold of your robe again.” So he put his hand into the fold again, and when he took it out of the fold, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.

⁸“So if they will not believe you nor pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the last sign.

⁹But if they will not believe even these two signs nor pay attention to what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will turn into blood on the dry ground.”

¹⁰Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

¹¹But the LORD said to him, “Who has made the human mouth? Or who makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

¹²Now then go, and I Myself will be with your mouth, and instruct you in what you are to say.”

¹³But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.”

¹⁴Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.

¹⁵So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I Myself will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you are to do.

¹⁶He shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him.

¹⁷And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”

¹⁸Then Moses departed and returned to his father-in-law Jethro, and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹Now the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”

²⁰So Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.

²²Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Israel is My son, My firstborn.

²³So I said to you, ‘Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I am going to kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”

²⁴But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the LORD met Moses, and sought to put him to death.

²⁵So Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet; and she said, “You are indeed a groom of blood to me!”

²⁶So He left him alone. At that time she said, “You are a groom of blood”—because of the circumcision.

²⁷Now the LORD said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

²⁸Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do.

²⁹Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel;

³⁰and Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people.

³¹So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, they bowed low and worshiped.

¹And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Let My people go so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

²But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

³Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, otherwise He will strike us with plague or with the sword.”

⁴But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you let the people neglect their work? Get back to your labors!”

⁵Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!”

⁶So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying,

⁷“You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as previously; have them go and gather straw for themselves.

⁸But you shall impose on them the quota of bricks which they were making before; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, for that reason they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

⁹Let the labor be heavier on the men, and have them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

¹⁰So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not going to give you any straw.

¹¹You go, get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it; but none of your labor will be reduced.’ ”

¹²So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

¹³And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your work quota, your daily amount, just as when you had straw.”

¹⁴Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and asked, “Why have you not completed your required task of making bricks either yesterday or today, as before?”

¹⁵Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?

¹⁶There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.”

¹⁷But he said, “You are lazy, very lazy; for that reason you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’

¹⁸So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, but you must deliver the quota of bricks.”

¹⁹The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble, since they were told, “You must not reduce your daily amount of bricks.”

²⁰When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were waiting for them.

²¹And they said to them, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you, because you have made us repulsive in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”

²²Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me?

²³Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all.”

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

²God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD;

³and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them.

⁴I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as strangers.

⁵Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

⁶Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the labors of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments.

⁷Then I will take you as My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the labors of the Egyptians.

⁸I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession; I am the LORD.’ ”

⁹So Moses said this to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.

¹⁰Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹¹“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.”

¹²But Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am unskilled in speech?”

¹³Nevertheless, the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command concerning the sons of Israel and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.

¹⁶And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the length of Levi’s life was 137 years.

¹⁷The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.

¹⁸And the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath’s life was 133 years.

¹⁹And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.

²⁰Now Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram’s life was 137 years.

²¹And the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

²²And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴And the sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵Now Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their multitudes.”

²⁷They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

²⁸Now it came about on the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

²⁹that the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the LORD; say to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰But Moses said before the LORD, “Behold, I am unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”