DAY 30: TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2013

GENESIS 46-47

Jacob Brings His Whole Family to Egypt

46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.”³ Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. ⁴ I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” ⁵ Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They also took their cattle and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, ⁷ his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

⁸ Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob’s first-born, ⁹ and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰ The sons of Simeon: Jem′uel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Sha′ul, the son of a Canaanitish woman. ¹¹ The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merar′i. ¹² The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ The sons of Is′sachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. ¹⁴ The sons of Zeb′ulun: Sered, Elon, and Jah′leel ¹⁵ (these are the sons of Leah, whom 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: Ziph′ion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Aro′di, and Are′li. ¹⁷ The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beri′ah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beri′ah: Heber and Mal′chi′el ¹⁸ (these are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons). ¹⁹ The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manas′seh and E′phraim, whom As′enath, the daughter of Poti′phera the priest of On, bore to him.²¹ And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Na′aman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard ²² (these are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all). ²³ The sons of Dan: Hushim. ²⁴ The sons of Naph′tali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem ²⁵ (these are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all). ²⁶ All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own offspring, 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; all the persons of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were seventy.

Jacob Settles in Goshen

²⁸ He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to appear^[a] before him in Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.²⁹ Then Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. ³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, “Now 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, “I 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 and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’ ³³ When Pharaoh calls you, and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

47 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; they are now in the land of Goshen.” ² And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. ³ Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” ⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land; for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan; and now, we pray you, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” ⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen; and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my cattle.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” ⁹ And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” ¹⁰ And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. ¹¹ Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ram′eses, as Pharaoh had commanded.¹² And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

The Famine in Egypt

¹³ Now there was no food in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. ¹⁴ And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.¹⁵ And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us food; why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” ¹⁶ And Joseph answered, “Give your cattle, and I will give you food in exchange for your cattle, if your money is gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the asses: and he supplied them with food in exchange for all their cattle that year. ¹⁸ And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord’s; there is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be slaves to Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh’s; ²¹ and as for the people, he made slaves of them^[b] from one end of Egypt to the other. ²² Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. ²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. ²⁴ And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” ²⁵ And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh.” ²⁶ So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.

The Last Days of Jacob

²⁷ Thus Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly. ²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven years.

²⁹ And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh, and promise to deal loyally and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but let me lie with my fathers; carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” ³¹ And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

PSALM 29

The Voice of God in a Great Storm

A Psalm of David.

29 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,^[a]
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
    worship the Lord in holy array.

³ The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord, upon many waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful,
    the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars,
    the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
    and Sir′ion like a young wild ox.

⁷ The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness,
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹ The voice of the Lord makes the oaks to whirl,^[b]
    and strips the forests bare;
    and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

¹⁰ The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
    the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever.
¹¹ May the Lord give strength to his people!
    May the Lord bless his people with peace!

MATTHEW 16

The Demand for a Sign

16 And the Pharisees and Sad′ducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ² He answered them,^[a] “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather; for the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. ⁴ An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵ When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sad′ducees.” ⁷ And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?¹¹ How is it that you fail to perceive that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sad′ducees.” ¹² Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sad′ducees.

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare′a Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli′jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”^[b] 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”^[c] 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter,^[d] and on this rock^[e] I will build my church, and the powers of death^[f] shall not prevail against it.^[g] 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,^[h] and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²² And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance^[i] to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men.”

The Cross and Self-Denial

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?^[j] Or what shall a man give in return for his life?^[k]27 For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done. ²⁸ Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

CATECHISM 238-248

Ooops. I included this on yesterday's. So, you're ahead and don't have any catechism reading to do today.