Genesis 45–46; Psalm 22:19–31; Mark 1

red bookmark icon blue bookmark icon gold bookmark icon
Genesis 45–46

Joseph Provides for His Brothers and Family

Then Joseph could not pcontrol himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, Make everyone go out from me. So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, qI am Joseph! Is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

So Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, please. And they came near. And he said, I am your brother, Joseph, rwhom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, sfor God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are tyet five years in which there will be neither uplowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and vruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry 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 tarry. 10 wYou shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 xThere I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty. 12 And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is ymy mouth that speaks to you. 13 You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and zbring my father down here. 14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, Joseph’s brothers have come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and aI will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land. 19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, Do this: take bwagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no concern for1 your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.

21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them bwagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave ca change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels2 of silver and dfive changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, eDo not quarrel on the way.

25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw fthe wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.

Joseph Brings His Family to Egypt

So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to gBeersheba, and offered sacrifices hto the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel iin visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here I am. Then he said, I am God, jthe God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will kmake you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also lbring you up again, and mJoseph’s hand shall close your eyes.

Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons nthat Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and ocame into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

pNow qthese are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. rReuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of sLevi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of tJudah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but uEr and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of vPerez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 wThe sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, xwhom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 yThe sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 zThese are the sons of Zilpah, awhom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacobsixteen persons.

19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And bto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of cOn, bore to him. 21 And dthe sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacobfourteen persons in all.

23 The son3 of Dan: Hushim. 24 eThe sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 fThese are the sons of Bilhah, gwhom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacobseven persons in all.

26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. hAll the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

Jacob and Joseph Reunited

28 He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came iinto the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and jfell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, kNow let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive. 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, lI 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. 32 mAnd 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. 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, mWhat is your occupation? 34 you shall say, mYour servants have been keepers of livestock nfrom our youth even until now, both we and our fathers, in order that you may dwell oin the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is pan abomination to the Egyptians.


Psalm 22:19–31

19  But you, O Lord, ndo not be far off!

O you my help, dcome quickly to my aid!

20  Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of ethe dog!

21  Save me from fthe mouth of the lion!

You have rescued1 me from the horns of gthe wild oxen!

22  hI will tell of your name to my ibrothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23  You who jfear the Lord, praise him!

All you offspring of Jacob, kglorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24  For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of lthe afflicted,

and he has not mhidden his face from him,

but has heard, when he ncried to him.

25  From you comes my praise in the great ocongregation;

my pvows I will qperform before those who fear him.

26  rThe afflicted2 shall seat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

May your hearts tlive forever!

27  All uthe ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord,

and all vthe families of the nations

shall worship before you.

28  For wkingship belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

29  All xthe prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

before him shall ybow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not zkeep himself alive.

30  Posterity shall serve him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ageneration;

31  they shall bcome and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet cunborn,

that he has done it.


Mark 1

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, athe Son of God.1

bAs it is written in Isaiah the prophet,2

cBehold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way,

dthe voice of one crying in the wilderness:

ePrepare3 the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,

fJohn appeared, baptizing in gthe wilderness and proclaiming ha baptism of irepentance jfor the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, kconfessing their sins. Now John was lclothed with camel’s hair and lwore a leather belt around his waist and ate mlocusts and nwild honey. And he preached, saying, oAfter me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. pI have baptized you with water, but qhe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

The Baptism of Jesus

rIn those days Jesus scame from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he tsaw uthe heavens being torn open vand the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And wa voice came from heaven, xYou are my beloved Son;4 with you I am well pleased.

The Temptation of Jesus

12 yThe Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 yAnd he was in the wilderness forty days, being ztempted by aSatan. And he was with the wild animals, and bthe angels were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 cNow after John was arrested, Jesus dcame into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, eThe time is fulfilled, and fthe kingdom of God is at hand;5 grepent and believe in the gospel.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 hPassing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become ifishers of men.6 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

21 jAnd they went into Capernaum, and immediately kon the Sabbath lhe entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And mthey were astonished at his teaching, mfor he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 nWhat have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? oI know who you arepthe Holy One of God. 25 But Jesus qrebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of him! 26 And the unclean spirit, rconvulsing him and scrying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all tamazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? uA new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Jesus Heals Many

29 vAnd immediately he7 wleft the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now xSimon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And he came and ytook her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or zoppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 aAnd he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And bhe would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

35 cAnd rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and dthere he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, eEveryone is looking for you. 38 And he said to them, Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for fthat is why I came out. 39 gAnd hhe went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

40 iAnd a leper8 came to him, imploring him, and jkneeling said to him, kIf you will, you can make me clean. 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I will; be clean. 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And lJesus9 sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, mSee that you say nothing to anyone, but go, nshow yourself to the priest and ooffer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, pfor a proof to them. 45 qBut he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter ra town, but was out in rdesolate places, and speople were coming to him from every quarter.