Genesis 45

¹⁵If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

³⁰Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep.

³¹Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.”

¹⁴“I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.

⁴¹not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.

²⁰Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.

⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.

¹Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.

²⁹Joseph prepared his chariot and went there to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, embraced him, and wept profusely.

³⁷They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him.

⁹May the Lord enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.” And she kissed them as they wept aloud

³“Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

¹³On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.

⁵“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.

¹⁰Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

⁷Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.

³⁷But they were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a spirit.

³⁸“Why are you troubled,” Jesus asked, “and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

²⁶When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

²⁸So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

²⁷But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

⁵“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.

¹⁸His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!”

²⁰As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.

⁹Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him

¹⁰and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

²¹saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

⁷God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

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

²³He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.

²⁴But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep Him in its grip.

¹⁶He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.

¹⁷He sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave.

²³Then Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh this day, here is seed for you to sow in the land.

⁵⁶When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁴the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt.

²⁹Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,

³⁰but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.

¹²He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

²⁴The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

⁴You are my King, O God, who ordains victories for Jacob.

³⁵This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

¹⁸And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the Lord, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

⁵⁰Great salvation He brings to His king. He shows loving devotion to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

¹⁴But Eleazar and David stationed themselves in the middle of the field and defended it. They struck down the Philistines, and the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹⁶You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

¹⁶So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.

¹¹Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.”

²¹He made him master of his household, ruler over all his substance,

²²to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

¹⁰“Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in

¹⁹You are also directed to tell them: ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives, and bring your father and come back.

²⁰But pay no regard to your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

¹³Tell my father about all my splendor in Egypt and everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

²²But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people live; no swarms of flies will be found there. In this way you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land.

²⁶The only place where it did not hail was in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.

³⁴you are to say, ‘Your servants have raised livestock ever since our youth—both we and our fathers.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”

²⁸Now Jacob had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When Jacob’s family arrived in the land of Goshen,

²⁹Joseph prepared his chariot and went there to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, embraced him, and wept profusely.

²⁴Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

²In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.

¹²Joseph also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.

⁵But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’

⁶he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

⁶the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

⁴But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show godliness to their own family and repay their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

⁹He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.

¹⁰For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

²³They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.

²⁷Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”

³⁹Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

¹⁴Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,

¹¹trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

²³And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.

²⁴Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

²⁹Joseph prepared his chariot and went there to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, embraced him, and wept profusely.

³¹They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.

¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.

⁴Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.

²⁰So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

⁴¹When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.

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

¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.

¹Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

³³So Joab went and told the king, and David summoned Absalom, who came to him and bowed facedown before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.

³⁶All the people took note and were pleased. In fact, everything the king did pleased them.

⁴This plan pleased the king and the whole assembly.

¹⁵And Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Settle wherever you please.”

³³who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel.

¹⁸Their offer seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem.

⁵This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, as well as Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.

¹Then Joseph instructed his steward: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s silver in the mouth of his sack.

²Put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” So the steward did as Joseph had instructed.

²⁵Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,

²⁶and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.

²⁸May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine.

⁶the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

¹²I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the Lord as their firstfruits.

¹⁴He makes peace at your borders; He fills you with the finest wheat.

²⁹You must present the offering due the Lord from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’

¹Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.

⁵Then Jacob departed from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, along with their children and wives.

²⁷However, when they relayed all that Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob was revived.

²³Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”

¹⁷Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on camels,

¹⁸and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan.

¹Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The Lord called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land.

³¹On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind.

¹³You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.

⁴I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’

¹¹Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.

²⁴Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”

¹⁹You are also directed to tell them: ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives, and bring your father and come back.

¹³He observed the daily requirement for offerings according to the commandment of Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

²Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.

¹⁸The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity.

¹⁶So Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he had been commanded.

²⁷However, when they relayed all that Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob was revived.

³⁴When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.

⁵“Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing.

²²“Everything is all right,” Gehazi replied. “My master has sent me to say, ‘Look, two young men from the sons of the prophets have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’”

²³But Naaman insisted, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged Gehazi to accept them. Then he tied up two talents of silver in two bags along with two sets of clothing and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them ahead of Gehazi.

¹²“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.

¹⁹Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty of their men, took their apparel, and gave their clothes to those who had solved the riddle. And burning with anger, Samson returned to his father’s house,

¹¹Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed.

¹⁰Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all manner of good things from his master in hand. And he set out for Nahor’s hometown in Aram-naharaim.

³“If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”

¹¹Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

¹³In love, hold them in highest regard because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

³⁴A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

³⁵By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

¹A song of ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!

²It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard over the collar of his robes.

¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

¹³Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

³²Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.

³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.

²⁸When one of them was gone, I said: “Surely he has been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.

³⁵All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

²⁴If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.

³⁴and saying, “The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon!”

⁴¹While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

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

⁹Now return quickly to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay.

¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁹You are also directed to tell them: ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives, and bring your father and come back.

⁶Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?

²After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

¹²a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. So he ate and was revived, for he had not had any food or water for three days and three nights.

¹⁹So God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he was revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, and it remains in Lehi to this day.

²⁸Simeon took Him in his arms and blessed God, saying:

²⁹“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace.

²¹A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

²²So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

³⁰Then Israel said to Joseph, “Finally I can die, now that I have seen your face and know that you are still alive!”