Bible Reading Plan – Day 14

₁Joseph commanded the servant in charge of his house, “Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man's money in the top of his sack. ₂Put my silver cup in the top of the youngest brother's sack, together with the money for his corn.” He did as he was told. ₃Early in the morning the brothers were sent on their way with their donkeys. ₄When they had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph said to the servant in charge of his house, “Hurry after those men. When you catch up with them, ask them, ‘Why have you paid back evil for good? ₅Why did you steal my master's silver cup? It is the one he drinks from, the one he uses for divination. You have committed a serious crime!’ ”

₆When the servant caught up with them, he repeated these words. ₇They answered him, “What do you mean, sir, by talking like this? We swear that we have done no such thing. ₈You know that we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in the top of our sacks. Why then should we steal silver or gold from your master's house? ₉Sir, if any one of us is found to have it, he will be put to death, and the rest of us will become your slaves.”

₁₀He said, “I agree; but only the one who has taken the cup will become my slave, and the rest of you can go free.” ₁₁So they quickly lowered their sacks to the ground, and each man opened his sack. ₁₂Joseph's servant searched carefully, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. ₁₃The brothers tore their clothes in sorrow, loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.

₁₄When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They bowed down before him, ₁₅and Joseph said, “What have you done? Didn't you know that a man in my position could find you out by practising divination?”

₁₆“What can we say to you, sir?” Judah answered. “How can we argue? How can we clear ourselves? God has uncovered our guilt. All of us are now your slaves and not just the one with whom the cup was found.”

₁₇Joseph said, “Oh, no! I would never do that! Only the one who had the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back safe and sound to your father.”

₁₈Judah went up to Joseph and said, “Please, sir, allow me to speak with you freely. Don't be angry with me; you are like the king himself. ₁₉Sir, you asked us, ‘Have you got a father or another brother?’ ₂₀We answered, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother, born to him in his old age. The boy's brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's children still alive; his father loves him very much.’ ₂₁Sir, you told us to bring him here, so that you could see him, ₂₂and we answered that the boy could not leave his father; if he did, his father would die. ₂₃Then you said, ‘You will not be admitted to my presence again unless your youngest brother comes with you.’

₂₄“When we went back to our father, we told him what you had said. ₂₅Then he told us to return and buy a little food. ₂₆We answered, ‘We cannot go; we will not be admitted to the man's presence unless our youngest brother is with us. We can go only if our youngest brother goes also.’ ₂₇Our father said to us, ‘You know that my wife Rachel bore me only two sons. ₂₈One of them has already left me. He must have been torn to pieces by wild animals, because I have not seen him since he left. ₂₉If you take this one from me now and something happens to him, the sorrow you would cause me would kill me, old as I am.’

_30-31“And now, sir,” Judah continued, “if I go back to my father without the boy, as soon as he sees that the boy is not with me, he will die. His life is wrapped up with the life of the boy, and he is so old that the sorrow we would cause him would kill him. ₃₂What is more, I pledged my life to my father for the boy. I told him that if I did not bring the boy back to him, I would bear the blame all my life. ₃₃And now, sir, I will stay here as your slave in place of the boy; let him go back with his brothers. ₃₄How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I cannot bear to see this disaster come upon my father.”

₁Joseph was no longer able to control his feelings in front of his servants, so he ordered them all to leave the room. No one else was with him when Joseph told his brothers who he was. ₂He cried with such loud sobs that the Egyptians heard it, and the news was taken to the king's palace. ₃Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But when his brothers heard this, they were so terrified that they could not answer. ₄Then Joseph said to them, “Please come closer.” They did, and he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ₅Now do not be upset or blame yourselves because you sold me here. It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save people's lives. ₆This is only the second year of famine in the land; there will be five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor reaping. ₇God sent me ahead of you to rescue you in this amazing way and to make sure that you and your descendants survive. ₈So it was not really you who sent me here, but God. He has made me the king's highest official. I am in charge of his whole country; I am the ruler of all Egypt.

₉“Now hurry back to my father and tell him that this is what his son Joseph says: ‘God has made me ruler of all Egypt; come to me without delay. ₁₀You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me — you, your children, your grandchildren, your sheep, your goats, your cattle, and everything else that you have. ₁₁If you are in Goshen, I can take care of you. There will still be five years of famine; and I do not want you, your family, and your livestock to starve.’ ”

₁₂Joseph continued, “Now all of you, and you too, Benjamin, can see that I am really Joseph. ₁₃Tell my father how powerful I am here in Egypt and tell him about everything that you have seen. Then hurry and bring him here.”

₁₄He threw his arms round his brother Benjamin and began to cry; Benjamin also cried as he hugged him. ₁₅Then, still weeping, he embraced each of his brothers and kissed them. After that, his brothers began to talk with him.

₁₆When the news reached the palace that Joseph's brothers had come, the king and his officials were pleased. ₁₇He said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their animals and to return to the land of Canaan. ₁₈Let them get their father and their families and come back here. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they will have more than enough to live on. ₁₉Tell them also to take wagons with them from Egypt for their wives and small children and to bring their father with them. ₂₀They are not to worry about leaving their possessions behind; the best in the whole land of Egypt will be theirs.”

₂₁Jacob's sons did as they were told. Joseph gave them wagons, as the king had ordered, and food for the journey. ₂₂He also gave each of them a change of clothes, but he gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and five changes of clothes. ₂₃He sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best Egyptian goods and ten donkeys loaded with corn, bread, and other food for the journey. ₂₄He sent his brothers off and as they left, he said to them, “Don't quarrel on the way.”

₂₅They left Egypt and went back home to their father Jacob in Canaan. ₂₆“Joseph is still alive!” they told him. “He is the ruler of all Egypt!” Jacob was stunned and could not believe them.

₂₇But when they told him all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to take him to Egypt, he recovered from the shock. ₂₈“My son Joseph is still alive!” he said. “This is all I could ask for! I must go and see him before I die.”

₁Jacob packed up all he had and went to Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ₂God spoke to him in a vision at night and called, “Jacob, Jacob!”

“Yes, here I am,” he answered.

₃“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go to Egypt; I will make your descendants a great nation there. ₄I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring your descendants back to this land. Joseph will be with you when you die.”

₅Jacob set out from Beersheba. His sons put him, their small children, and their wives in the wagons which the king of Egypt had sent. ₆They took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan and went to Egypt. Jacob took all his descendants with him: ₇his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters.

₈The members of Jacob's family who went to Egypt with him were his eldest son Reuben ₉and Reuben's sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ₁₀Simeon and his sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. ₁₁Levi and his sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ₁₂Judah and his sons: Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (Judah's other sons, Er and Onan, had died in Canaan.) Perez' sons were Hezron and Hamul. ₁₃Issachar and his sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron. ₁₄Zebulun and his sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ₁₅These are the sons that Leah had borne to Jacob in Mesopotamia, besides his daughter Dinah. In all, his descendants by Leah numbered 33.

₁₆Gad and his sons: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arod, and Areli. ₁₇Asher and his sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah's sons were Heber and Malchiel. ₁₈These sixteen are the descendants of Jacob by Zilpah, the slave woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah.

₁₉Jacob's wife Rachel bore him two sons: Joseph and Benjamin. ₂₀In Egypt Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in Heliopolis. ₂₁Benjamin's sons were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. ₂₂These fourteen are the descendants of Jacob by Rachel.

₂₃Dan and his son Hushim. ₂₄Naphtali and his sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ₂₅These seven are the descendants of Jacob by Bilhah, the slave woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel.

₂₆The total number of the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt was 66, not including his sons' wives. ₂₇Two sons were born to Joseph in Egypt, bringing to seventy the total number of Jacob's family who went there.

₂₈Jacob sent Judah ahead to ask Joseph to meet them in Goshen. When they arrived, ₂₉Joseph got in his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father. When they met, Joseph threw his arms round his father's neck and cried for a long time. ₃₀Jacob said to Joseph, “I am ready to die, now that I have seen you and know that you are still alive.”

₃₁Then Joseph said to his brothers and the rest of his father's family, “I must go and tell the king that my brothers and all my father's family, who were living in Canaan, have come to me. ₃₂I will tell him that you are shepherds and take care of livestock and that you have brought your flocks and herds and everything else that belongs to you. ₃₃When the king calls for you and asks what your occupation is, ₃₄be sure to tell him that you have taken care of livestock all your lives, just as your ancestors did. In this way he will let you live in the region of Goshen.” Joseph said this because Egyptians will have nothing to do with shepherds.

₁So Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king. He said, “My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own. They are now in the region of Goshen.” ₂He then presented his brothers to the king. ₃The king asked them, “What is your occupation?”

“We are shepherds, sir, just as our ancestors were,” they answered. ₄“We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen.” ₅The king said to Joseph, “Now that your father and your brothers have arrived, ₆the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the region of Goshen, the best part of the land. And if there are any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

₇Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing, ₈and the king asked him, “How old are you?”

₉Jacob answered, “My life of wandering has lasted 130 years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings.” ₁₀Jacob gave the king a farewell blessing and left. ₁₁Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best of the land near the city of Rameses, as the king had commanded. ₁₂Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all the rest of his father's family, including the very youngest.