Genesis 45

• 1. Joseph could stand it no longer. "Out, all of you!" he cried out to his attendants. He wanted to be alone with his brothers when he told them who he was.
• 2. Then he broke down and wept aloud. His sobs could be heard throughout the palace, and the news was quickly carried to Pharaoh's palace.
• 3. "I am Joseph!" he said to his brothers. "Is my father still alive?" But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them.
• 4. "Come over here," he said. So they came closer. And he said again, "I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt.
• 5. But don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.
• 6. These two years of famine will grow to seven, during which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
• 7. God has sent me here to keep you and your families alive so that you will become a great nation.
• 8. Yes, it was God who sent me here, not you! And he has made me a counselor to Pharaoh--manager of his entire household and ruler over all Egypt.
• 9. "Hurry, return to my father and tell him, `This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. Come down to me right away!
• 10. You will live in the land of Goshen so you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have.
• 11. I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you and your household will come to utter poverty.'"
• 12. Then Joseph said, "You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that I really am Joseph!
• 13. Tell my father how I am honored here in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen, and bring him to me quickly."
• 14. Weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin also began to weep.
• 15. Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them, and then they began talking freely with him.
• 16. The news soon reached Pharaoh: "Joseph's brothers have come!" Pharaoh was very happy to hear this and so were his officials.
• 17. Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers to load their pack animals and return quickly to their homes in Canaan.
• 18. Tell them to bring your father and all of their families, and to come here to Egypt to live. Tell them, `Pharaoh will assign to you the very best territory in the land of Egypt. You will live off the fat of the land!'
• 19. And tell your brothers to take wagons from Egypt to carry their wives and little ones and to bring your father here.
• 20. Don't worry about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours."
• 21. So the sons of Jacob did as they were told. Joseph gave them wagons, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he supplied them with provisions for the journey.
• 22. And he gave each of them new clothes--but to Benjamin he gave five changes of clothes and three hundred pieces of silver!
• 23. He sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten donkeys loaded with grain and all kinds of other food to be eaten on his journey.
• 24. So he sent his brothers off, and as they left, he called after them, "Don't quarrel along the way!"
• 25. And they left Egypt and returned to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan.
• 26. "Joseph is still alive!" they told him. "And he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!" Jacob was stunned at the news--he couldn't believe it.
• 27. But when they had given him Joseph's messages, and when he saw the wagons loaded with the food sent by Joseph, his spirit revived.
• 28. Then Jacob said, "It must be true! My son Joseph is alive! I will go and see him before I die."

Mark 16

• 1. The next evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene and Salome and Mary the mother of James went out and purchased burial spices to put on Jesus' body.
• 2. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they came to the tomb.
• 3. On the way they were discussing who would roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb.
• 4. But when they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone--a very large one--had already been rolled aside.
• 5. So they entered the tomb, and there on the right sat a young man clothed in a white robe. The women were startled,
• 6. but the angel said, "Do not be so surprised. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.
• 7. Now go and give this message to his disciples, including Peter: Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died!"
• 8. The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, saying nothing to anyone because they were too frightened to talk. Then they reported all these instructions briefly to Peter and his companions. Afterward Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life. Amen.
• 9. It was early on Sunday morning when Jesus rose from the dead, and the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons.
• 10. She went and found the disciples, who were grieving and weeping.
• 11. But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn't believe her.
• 12. Afterward he appeared to two who were walking from Jerusalem into the country, but they didn't recognize him at first because he had changed his appearance.
• 13. When they realized who he was, they rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.
• 14. Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their unbelief--their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
• 15. And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.
• 16. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.
• 17. These signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak new languages.
• 18. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them."
• 19. When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand.
• 20. And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked with them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

Job 12

• 1. Then Job spoke again:
• 2. "You really know everything, don't you? And when you die, wisdom will die with you!
• 3. Well, I know a few things myself--and you're no better than I am. Who doesn't know these things you've been saying?
• 4. Yet my friends laugh at me. I am a man who calls on God and receives an answer. I am a just and blameless man, yet they laugh at me.
• 5. People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling.
• 6. But even robbers are left in peace, and those who provoke God--and God has them in his power--live in safety!
• 7. "Ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
• 8. Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish of the sea speak to you.
• 9. They all know that the LORD has done this.
• 10. For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of all humanity.
• 11. Just as the mouth tastes good food, so the ear tests the words it hears.
• 12. Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to those who have lived many years.
• 13. "But true wisdom and power are with God; counsel and understanding are his.
• 14. What he destroys cannot be rebuilt. When he closes in on someone, there is no escape.
• 15. If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert. If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.
• 16. "Yes, strength and wisdom are with him; deceivers and deceived are both in his power.
• 17. He leads counselors away stripped of good judgment; he drives judges to madness.
• 18. He removes the royal robe of kings. With ropes around their waist, they are led away.
• 19. He leads priests away stripped of status; he overthrows the mighty.
• 20. He silences the trusted adviser, and he removes the insight of the elders.
• 21. He pours disgrace upon princes and confiscates weapons from the strong.
• 22. "He floods the darkness with light; he brings light to the deepest gloom.
• 23. He raises up nations, and he destroys them. He makes nations expand, and he abandons them.
• 24. He takes away the understanding of kings, and he leaves them wandering in a wasteland without a path.
• 25. They grope in the darkness without a light. He makes them stagger like drunkards.

New Living Translation: 44 of 365 days.