Read the Bible in a Year - Day 14
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Welcome to Day 14 of Reading the Bible in a Year.
Today were reading Genesis 44, Genesis 45 and Genesis 46.
Genesis Chapter 44
Gen 44:1 Later, Joseph told the servant in charge of his house, “Fill the men’s grain sacks with as much as they can hold and put their money in the sacks. Also put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother.” The servant did as he was told.
Gen 44:2 (SEE 44:1)
Gen 44:3 Early the next morning, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.
Gen 44:4 But they had not gone far from the city when Joseph told the servant, “Go after those men! When you catch them, say, ‘My master has been good to you. So why have you stolen his silver cup?
Gen 44:5 Not only does he drink from his cup, but he also uses it to learn about the future. You have done a terrible thing.’ ”
Gen 44:6 When the servant caught up with them, he said exactly what Joseph had told him to say.
Gen 44:7 But they replied, “Sir, why do you say such things? We would never do anything like that!
Gen 44:8 We even returned the money we found in our grain sacks when we got back to Canaan. So why would we want to steal any silver or gold from your master’s house?
Gen 44:9 If you find that one of us has the cup, then kill him, and the rest of us will become your slaves.”
Gen 44:10 “Good!” the man replied, “I’ll do what you have said. But only the one who has the cup will become my slave. The rest of you can go free.”
Gen 44:11 Each of the brothers quickly put his sack on the ground and opened it.
Gen 44:12 Joseph’s servant started searching the sacks, beginning with the one that belonged to the oldest brother. When he came to Benjamin’s sack, he found the cup.
Gen 44:13 This upset the brothers so much that they began tearing their clothes in sorrow. Then they loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
Gen 44:14 When Judah and his brothers got there, Joseph was still at home. So they bowed down to Joseph,
Gen 44:15 who asked them, “What have you done? Didn’t you know I could find out?”
Gen 44:16 “Sir, what can we say?” Judah replied. “How can we prove we are innocent? God has shown that we are guilty. And now all of us are your slaves, especially the one who had the cup.”
Gen 44:17 Joseph told them, “I would never punish all of you. Only the one who was caught with the cup will become my slave. The rest of you are free to go home to your father.”
Gen 44:18 Judah went over to Joseph and said: Sir, you have as much power as the king himself, and I am only your slave. Please don’t get angry if I speak.
Gen 44:19 You asked us if our father was still alive and if we had any more brothers.
Gen 44:20 So we told you, “Our father is a very old man. In fact, he was already old when Benjamin was born. Benjamin’s brother is dead. Now Benjamin is the only one of the two brothers who is still alive, and our father loves him very much.”
Gen 44:21 You ordered us to bring him here, so you could see him for yourself.
Gen 44:22 We told you that our father would die if Benjamin left him.
Gen 44:23 But you warned us that we could never see you again, unless our youngest brother came with us.
Gen 44:24 So we returned to our father and reported what you had said.
Gen 44:25 Later our father told us to come back here and buy more grain.
Gen 44:26 But we answered, “We can’t go back to Egypt without our youngest brother. We will never be let in to see the governor, unless he is with us.”
Gen 44:27 Sir, our father then reminded us that his favorite wife had given birth to two sons.
Gen 44:28 One of them was already missing and had not been seen for a long time. My father thinks the boy was torn to pieces by some wild animal,
Gen 44:29 and he said, “I am an old man. If you take Benjamin from me, and something happens to him, I will die of a broken heart.”
Gen 44:30 That’s why Benjamin must be with us when I go back to my father. He loves him so much
Gen 44:31 that he will die if Benjamin doesn’t come back with me.
Gen 44:32 I promised my father that I would bring him safely home. If I don’t, I told my father he could blame me the rest of my life.
Gen 44:33 Sir, I am your slave. Please let me stay here in place of Benjamin and let him return home with his brothers.
Gen 44:34 How can I face my father if Benjamin isn’t with me? I couldn’t bear to see my father in such sorrow.
Genesis Chapter 45
Gen 45:1 Since Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants, he sent them out of the room. When he was alone with his brothers, he told them, “I am Joseph.”
Gen 45:2 Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king’s palace.
Gen 45:3 Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer.
Gen 45:4 Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said: Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 Don’t worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.
Gen 45:6 There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain.
Gen 45:7 But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way.
Gen 45:8 After all, you weren’t really the ones who sent me here–it was God. He made me the highest official in the king’s court and placed me over all Egypt.
Gen 45:9 Now hurry back and tell my father that his son Joseph says, “God has made me ruler of Egypt. Come here as quickly as you can.
Gen 45:10 You will live near me in the region of Goshen with your children and grandchildren, as well as with your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own.
Gen 45:11 I will take care of you there during the next five years of famine. But if you don’t come, you and your family and your animals will starve to death.”
Gen 45:12 All of you, including my brother Benjamin, can tell by what I have said that I really am Joseph.
Gen 45:13 Tell my father about my great power here in Egypt and about everything you have seen. Hurry and bring him here.
Gen 45:14 Joseph and Benjamin hugged each other and started crying.
Gen 45:15 Joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers. After this, they started talking with Joseph.
Gen 45:16 When it was told in the palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, the king and his officials were happy.
Gen 45:17 So the king said to Joseph: Tell your brothers to load their donkeys and return to Canaan.
Gen 45:18 Have them bring their father and their families here. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they can eat and enjoy everything that grows on it.
Gen 45:19 Also tell your brothers to take some wagons from Egypt for their wives and children to ride in. And be sure to have them bring their father.
Gen 45:20 They can leave their possessions behind, because they will be given the best of everything in Egypt.
Gen 45:21 Jacob’s sons agreed to do what the king had said. And Joseph gave them wagons and food for their trip home, just as the king had ordered.
Gen 45:22 Joseph gave some new clothes to each of his brothers, but to Benjamin he gave five new outfits and three hundred pieces of silver.
Gen 45:23 To his father he sent ten donkeys loaded with the best things in Egypt, and ten other donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other food for the return trip.
Gen 45:24 Then he sent his brothers off and told them, “Don’t argue on the way home!”
Gen 45:25 Joseph’s brothers left Egypt, and when they arrived in Canaan,
Gen 45:26 they told their father that Joseph was still alive and was the ruler of Egypt. But their father was so surprised that he could not believe them.
Gen 45:27 Then they told him everything Joseph had said. When he saw the wagons Joseph had sent, he felt much better
Gen 45:28 and said, “Now I can believe you! My son Joseph must really be alive, and I will get to see him before I die.”
Genesis Chapter 46
Gen 46:1 Jacob packed up everything he owned and left for Egypt. On the way he stopped near the town of Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God his father Isaac had worshiped.
Gen 46:2 That night, God spoke to him and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” Jacob answered.
Gen 46:3 God said, “I am God, the same God your father worshiped. Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt. I will give you so many descendants that one day they will become a nation.
Gen 46:4 I will go with you to Egypt, and later I will bring your descendants back here. Your son Joseph will be at your side when you die.”
Gen 46:5 Jacob and his family set out from Beersheba and headed for Egypt. His sons put him in the wagon that the king had sent for him, and they put their small children and their wives in the other wagons. Jacob’s whole family went to Egypt, including his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters. They took along their animals and everything else they owned.
Gen 46:6 (SEE 46:5)
Gen 46:7 (SEE 46:5)
Gen 46:8 When Jacob went to Egypt, his children who were born in northern Syria also went along with their families. Jacob and his wife Leah had a total of thirty-three children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but two of their grandchildren had died in Canaan. Their oldest son Reuben took his sons Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. Their son Simeon took his sons Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, whose mother was a Canaanite. Their son Levi took his sons Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Their son Judah took his sons Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. Judah’s sons Er and Onan had died in Canaan. Judah’s son Perez took his sons Hezron and Hamul. Their son Issachar took his sons Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron. Their son Zebulun took his sons Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. Their daughter Dinah also went.
Gen 46:9 (SEE 46:8)
Gen 46:10 (SEE 46:8)
Gen 46:11 (SEE 46:8)
Gen 46:12 (SEE 46:8)
Gen 46:13 (SEE 46:8)
Gen 46:14 (SEE 46:8)
Gen 46:15 (SEE 46:8)
Gen 46:16 Jacob and Zilpah, the servant woman Laban had given his daughter Leah, had a total of sixteen children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Their son Gad took his sons Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. Their son Asher took his sons Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, who took his sons, Heber and Malchiel. Serah, the daughter of Asher, also went.
Gen 46:17 (SEE 46:16)
Gen 46:18 (SEE 46:16)
Gen 46:19 Jacob and Rachel had fourteen children and grandchildren. Their son Joseph was already in Egypt, where he had married Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, the priest of Heliopolis. Joseph and Asenath had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob and Rachel’s son Benjamin took his sons Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
Gen 46:20 (SEE 46:19)
Gen 46:21 (SEE 46:19)
Gen 46:22 (SEE 46:19)
Gen 46:23 Jacob and Bilhah, the servant woman Laban had given his daughter Rachel, had seven children and grandchildren. Their son Dan took his son Hushim. Their son Naphtali took his sons Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
Gen 46:24 (SEE 46:23)
Gen 46:25 (SEE 46:23)
Gen 46:26 Sixty-six members of Jacob’s family went to Egypt with him, not counting his daughters-in-law.
Gen 46:27 Jacob’s two grandsons who were born there made it a total of seventy members of Jacob’s family in Egypt.
Gen 46:28 Jacob had sent his son Judah ahead of him to ask Joseph to meet them in Goshen.
Gen 46:29 So Joseph got in his chariot and went to meet his father. When they met, Joseph hugged his father around the neck and cried for a long time.
Gen 46:30 Jacob said to Joseph, “Now that I have seen you and know you are still alive, I am ready to die.”
Gen 46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to everyone who had come with them: I must go and tell the king that you have arrived from Canaan.
Gen 46:32 I will tell him that you are shepherds and that you have brought your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own.
Gen 46:33 The king will call you in and ask what you do for a living.
Gen 46:34 When he does, be sure to say, “We are shepherds. Our families have always raised sheep.” If you tell him this, he will let you settle in the region of Goshen. Joseph wanted them to say this to the king, because the Egyptians did not like to be around anyone who raised sheep.
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