Genesis 47

• 1. Joseph went and told Pharaoh, "My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen."
• 2. He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
• 3. Pharaoh asked the brothers, "What is your occupation?Your servants are shepherds," they replied to Pharaoh, "just as our fathers were."
• 4. They also said to him, "We have come to live here awhile, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants' flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen."
• 5. Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you,
• 6. and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock."
• 7. Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh,
• 8. Pharaoh asked him, "How old are you?"
• 9. And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers."
• 10. Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
• 11. So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed.
• 12. Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their children.
• 13. There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.
• 14. Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace.
• 15. When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up."
• 16. "Then bring your livestock," said Joseph. "I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone."
• 17. So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.
• 18. When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.
• 19. Why should we perish before your eyes-we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate."
• 20. So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's,
• 21. and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other.
• 22. However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
• 23. Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground.
• 24. But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."
• 25. "You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."
• 26. So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt-still in force today-that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh's.
• 27. Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.
• 28. Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.
• 29. When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,
• 30. but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.I will do as you say," he said.
• 31. "Swear to me," he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Luke 2

• 1. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
• 2. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
• 3. And everyone went to his own town to register.
• 4. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
• 5. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
• 6. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
• 7. and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
• 8. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
• 9. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
• 10. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
• 11. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
• 12. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
• 13. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
• 14. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
• 15. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
• 16. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
• 17. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
• 18. and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
• 19. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
• 20. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
• 21. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.
• 22. When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
• 23. (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord" ),
• 24. and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."
• 25. Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
• 26. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
• 27. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required,
• 28. Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
• 29. "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.
• 30. For my eyes have seen your salvation,
• 31. which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
• 32. a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
• 33. The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.
• 34. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,
• 35. so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."
• 36. There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
• 37. and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
• 38. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
• 39. When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.
• 40. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
• 41. Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.
• 42. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.
• 43. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.
• 44. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends.
• 45. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
• 46. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
• 47. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
• 48. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
• 49. "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"
• 50. But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
• 51. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
• 52. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Job 14

• 1. "Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.
• 2. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
• 3. Do you fix your eye on such a one? Will you bring him before you for judgment?
• 4. Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
• 5. Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
• 6. So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired man.
• 7. "At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
• 8. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
• 9. yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
• 10. But man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
• 11. As water disappears from the sea or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
• 12. so man lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, men will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
• 13. "If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!
• 14. If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.
• 15. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
• 16. Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
• 17. My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.
• 18. "But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place,
• 19. as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy man's hope.
• 20. You overpower him once for all, and he is gone; you change his countenance and send him away.
• 21. If his sons are honored, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he does not see it.
• 22. He feels but the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself."

New International Version

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