DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SUNDAY JANUARY 16
DAILY BIBLE READING
Genesis 47-50 New King James Version
Joseph Is Governor of Egypt
47 Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers,
their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the
land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen." 2 And he took
five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Then
Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?"
And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our
fathers." 4 And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to dwell in the land,
because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is
severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell
in the land of Goshen."
5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have
come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and
brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of
Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief
herdsmen over my livestock."
7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and
Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How old are you?"
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my [a]pilgrimage are
one 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 pilgrimage." 10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh,
and went out from before Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph situated 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
Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Then Joseph provided his father, his
brothers, and all his father's household with bread, according to the number
in their families.
Joseph Deals with the Famine
13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe,
so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because 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 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan,
all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us bread, for why should we
die in your presence? For the money has failed."
16 Then Joseph said, "Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for
your livestock, if the money is gone." 17 So they brought their livestock to
Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks,
the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he [b]fed them with bread
in exchange for all their livestock that year.
18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him,
"We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our
herds of livestock. 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 bread, and we and our land will be servants of
Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not
be desolate."
20 Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of
the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So
the land became Pharaoh's. 21 And as for the people, he [c]moved them into
the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. 22 Only
the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted
to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them;
therefore they did not sell their lands.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land
this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the
land. 24 And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give
one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field
and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little
ones."
25 So they said, "You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight
of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants." 26 And Joseph made it a law
over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth,
except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's.
Joseph's Vow to Jacob
27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they
had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob
lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob's life
was one hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When the time drew near that
Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "Now if I have
found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal
kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie
with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial
place."
And he said, "I will do as you have said."
31 Then he said, "Swear to me." And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself
on the head of the bed.
Jacob Blesses Joseph's Sons
48 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, "Indeed your
father is sick"; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2
And Jacob was told, "Look, your son Joseph is coming to you"; and Israel
[d]strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. 3 Then Jacob said to Joseph:
"God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4
and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I
will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your
descendants after you as an everlasting possession.' 5 And now your two
sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before
I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6 Your [e]offspring [f]whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will
be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 But as for
me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on
the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried
her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)."
8 Then Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, "Who are these?"
9 Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me in
this place."
And he said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them." 10 Now the
eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph
brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel
said to Joseph, "I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has
also shown me your offspring!"
12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his
face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand
toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's
right hand, and brought them near him. 14 Then Israel stretched out his
right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left
hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the
firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said:
"God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
Let my name be named upon them,
And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of
Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove
it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said to his father,
"Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on
his head."
19 But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also shall
become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother
shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of
nations."
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will bless, saying,
'May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!' " And thus he set Ephraim
before Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you
and bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to
you one [g]portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the
Amorite with my sword and my bow."
Jacob's Last Words to His Sons
49 And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you
what shall befall you in the last days:
2 "Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,
And listen to Israel your father.
3 "Reuben, you are my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you went up to your father's bed;
Then you defiled it-
He went up to my couch.
5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of [h]cruelty are in their dwelling place.
6 Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united to their assembly;
For in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they [i]hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.
8 "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father's children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion's whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He [j]bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
10 The [k]scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
13 "Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea;
He shall become a haven for ships,
And his border shall adjoin Sidon.
14 "Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
15 He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant;
He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.
16 "Dan shall judge his people
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
A viper by the path,
That bites the horse's heels
So that its rider shall fall backward.
18 I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!
19 "Gad,[l] a troop shall [m]tramp upon him,
But he shall triumph at last.
20 "Bread from Asher shall be rich,
And he shall yield royal dainties.
21 "Naphtali is a deer let loose;
He uses beautiful words.
22 "Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
23 The archers have bitterly grieved him,
Shot at him and hated him.
24 But his bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were [n]made strong
By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25 By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the Almighty who will bless you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors,
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
And at night he shall divide the spoil."
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father
spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own
blessing.
Jacob's Death and Burial
29 Then he charged them and said to them: "I am to be gathered to my people;
bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the
Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before
Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron
the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. 31 There they buried Abraham
and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there
I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave that is there were purchased from
the sons of Heth." 33 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he
drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his
people.
Burial of Jacob
50 Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him, and kissed him.
2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So
the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for him, for such
are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians
mourned[o] for him seventy days.
4 Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household
of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in
the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 5 'My father made me swear, saying, "Behold,
I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there
you shall bury me." Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father,
and I will come back.' "
6 And Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear."
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the
servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land
of Egypt, 8 as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his
father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they
left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and
horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.
10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the
Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He
observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11 And when the inhabitants
of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of
Atad, they said, "This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians." Therefore its
name was called [p]Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
12 So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. 13 For his sons
carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field
of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron
the Hittite as property for a burial place. 14 And after he had buried his
father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up
with him to bury his father.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said,
"Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may [q]actually repay us for all the evil
which we did to him." 16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, "Before
your father died he commanded, saying, 17 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: "I
beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for
they did evil to you." ' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants
of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said,
"Behold, we are your servants."
19 Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in
order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now
therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones."
And he comforted them and spoke [r]kindly to them.
Death of Joseph
22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household. And Joseph lived
one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third
generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought
up on Joseph's knees.
24 And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit
you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the
children of Israel, saying, "God will surely [s]visit you, and you shall
carry up my bones from here." 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten
years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Footnotes
Genesis 47:9 Lit. sojourning
Genesis 47:17 supplied
Genesis 47:21 So with MT, Tg.; Sam., LXX, Vg. made the people virtual slaves
Genesis 48:2 Collected his strength
Genesis 48:6 children
Genesis 48:6 Who are born to you
Genesis 48:22 Lit. shoulder
Genesis 49:5 violence
Genesis 49:6 lamed
Genesis 49:9 couches
Genesis 49:10 A symbol of kingship
Genesis 49:19 Lit. Troop
Genesis 49:19 Lit. raid
Genesis 49:24 Or supple
Genesis 50:3 Lit. wept
Genesis 50:11 Lit. Mourning of Egypt
Genesis 50:15 fully
Genesis 50:21 Lit. to their hearts
Genesis 50:25 give attention to
