Chapter One
GENESIS 49:14
14 "Issachar is a rawboned donkey
lying down between two saddlebags.
15 When he sees how good is his resting place
and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and submit to forced labor.
16 "Dan will provide justice for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse's heels
so that its rider tumbles backward.
18 "I look for your deliverance, O Lord.
19 "Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.
20 "Asher's food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
21 "Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.
22 "Joseph is fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.
23 With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility.
24 But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of your father's God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you
with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb.
26 Your father's blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder."
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is
what their father said to them when he blessed them,
giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29 Then he gave them these instructions: "I am about
to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in
the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in
the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which
Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite,
along with the field. 31 There Abraham and his wife
Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah
were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and
the cave in it were bought from the Hittites."
33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his
sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last
and was gathered to his people.
50 Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept
over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph directed
the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel.
So the physicians embalmed him, 3 taking a full forty
days, for that was the time required for embalming.
And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4 When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said
to Pharaoh's court, "If I have found favor in your eyes,
speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, 5 'My father made me
swear an oath and said, "I am about to die; bury me in the
tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan." Now let me
go up and bury my father; then I will return.'"
6 Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury your father, as he
made you swear to do."
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh's
officials accompanied him-the dignitaries of his court
and all the dignitaries of Egypt-8 besides all the members
of Joseph's household and his brothers and those
belonging to his father's household. Only their children
and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. 9 Chariots
and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very
large company.
10 When they reached the threshing floor of Atad,
near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and
there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning
for his father. 11 When the Canaanites who lived there
saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they
said, "The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of
mourning." That is why that place near the Jordan is
called Abel Mizraim.
12 So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them:
13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him
in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which
Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephron the
Hittite, along with the field. 14 After burying his father, Joseph
returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all
the others who had gone with him to bury his father.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was
dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against
us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?"
16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left
these instructions before he died: 17 'This is what you
are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers
the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you
so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of
the God of your father." When their message came to
him, Joseph wept.
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves
down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.
19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in
the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good to accomplish what is now being
done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be
afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he
reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
The Death of Joseph
22 Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father's
family. He lived a hundred and ten years 23 and saw the
third generation of Ephraim's children. Also the children
of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on
Joseph's knees.
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to
die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you
up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." 25 And Joseph made the
sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely
come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up
from this place."
26 So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten.
And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin
in Egypt.
Exodus
The Israelites Oppressed
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to
Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben,
Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin;
4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants
of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already
in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation
died, 7 but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied
greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so
that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph,
came to power in Egypt. 9 "Look," he said to his people,
"the Israelites have become much too numerous for us.
10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will
become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will
join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country."
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress
them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and
Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they
were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread;
so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and
worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter
with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of
work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians
used them ruthlessly.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,
whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 "When you
help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe
them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it
is a girl, let her live." 17 The midwives, however, feared
God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told
them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of
Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why
have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women
are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give
birth before the midwives arrive."
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people
increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because
the midwives feared God, he gave them families
of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people:
"Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile,
but let every girl live."
The Birth of Moses
2 Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite
woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to
a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him
for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer,
she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with
tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it
among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister
stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to
bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river
bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her
slave girl to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He
was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the
Hebrew babies," she said.
7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I
go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby
for you?"
8 "Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got
the baby's mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter said to her,
"Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay
you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him.
10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's
daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,
saying, "I drew him out of the water."
Moses Flees to Midian
11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to
where his own people were and watched them at their
hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of
his own people. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing
no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting.
He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting
your fellow Hebrew?"
14 The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge
over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the
Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I
did must have become known."
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses,
but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian,
where he sat down by a well. 16 Now a priest of Midian
had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and
fill the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 Some
shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses
got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
18 When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he
asked them, "Why have you returned so early today?"
19 They answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from the
shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the
flock."
20 "And where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why
did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat."
21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his
daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah
gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,
saying, "I have become an alien in a foreign land."
23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died.
The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out,
and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to
God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered
his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned
about them.
1 CHRONICLES 1:42
42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.
The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
The Rulers of Edom
43 These were the kings who reigned in Edom before
any Israelite king reigned: Bela son of Beor, whose city was named Dinhabah.
44 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah
succeeded him as king.
45 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the
Temanites succeeded him as king.
46 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated
Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded
him as king. His city was named Avith.
47 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded
him as king.
48 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the
river succeeded him as king.
49 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Acbor succeeded
him as king.
50 When Baal-Hanan died, Hadad succeeded him as
king. His city was named Pau, and his wife's
name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the
daughter of Me-Zahab. 51 Hadad also died.
The chiefs of Edom were: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 52 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 53 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 54 Magdiel and
Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom.
Israel's Sons
2 These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and
Asher.
Judah
To Hezron's Sons
3 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah. These three were born to
him by a Canaanite woman, the daughter of
Shua. Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the
Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death. 4 Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law, bore him Perez
and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.
5 The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
6 The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Darda-five
in all.
7 The son of Carmi: Achar, who brought trouble on Israel by violating
the ban on taking devoted things.
8 The son of Ethan: Azariah.
9 The sons born to Hezron were: Jerahmeel, Ram and Caleb.
From Ram Son of Hezron
10 Ram was the father of
Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of
Nahshon, the leader of the people of Judah.
11 Nahshon was the father of Salmon, Salmon
the father of Boaz, 12 Boaz the father of Obed
and Obed the father of Jesse.
13 Jesse was the father of
Eliab his firstborn; the second son was Abinadab, the third Shimea, 14 the fourth Nethanel, the fifth Raddai, 15 the sixth Ozem and the seventh
David. 16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and
Abigail. Zeruiah's three sons were Abishai, Joab
and Asahel. 17 Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite.
Caleb Son of Hezron
18 Caleb son of Hezron had children by his wife Azubah
(and by Jerioth). These were her sons: Jesher, Shobab and Ardon. 19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur.
20 Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri the father of
Bezalel.
21 Later, Hezron lay with the daughter of Makir the father
of Gilead (he had married her when he was
sixty years old), and she bore him Segub. 22 Segub
was the father of Jair, who controlled twenty-three
towns in Gilead.
Continues.
