29 January - Genesis 48-50

Jude Sat Aug 18, 2018 4:56 am

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

GENESIS 48

1And after these events it came to be that it was said to Yosĕph, “See, your father is sick.” And he took with him his two sons, Menashsheh and Ephrayim.

2And Ya‛aqoḇ was told, “See, your son Yosĕph is coming to you.” And Yisra’ĕl strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.

3And Ya‛aqoḇ said to Yosĕph, “Ěl Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Kena‛an and blessed me,

4and said to me, ‘See, I am making you bear fruit and shall increase you and make of you an assembly of peoples, and give this land to your seed after you as an everlasting possession.’

5“And now, your two sons, Ephrayim and Menashsheh, who were born to you in the land of Mitsrayim before I came to you in Mitsrayim, are mine – as Re’uḇĕn and Shim‛on, they are mine.

6“Your offspring whom you shall bring forth after them are yours, and let them be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

7“And I, when I came from Paddan, Raḥĕl died beside me in the land of Kena‛an 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 Bĕyth Leḥem.”

8And Yisra’ĕl saw Yosĕph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”

9And Yosĕph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom Elohim has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and let me bless them.”

10And the eyes of Yisra’ĕl were dim with age, and he was unable to see. And he drew them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

11And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “I had not thought to see your face. But see, Elohim has also shown me your seed!”

12So Yosĕph brought them from between his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth.

13And Yosĕph took them both, Ephrayim with his right hand toward Yisra’ĕl’s left hand, and Menashsheh with his left hand toward Yisra’ĕl’s right hand, and brought them near him.

14And Yisra’ĕl stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephrayim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Menashsheh’s head, consciously directing his hands, for Menashsheh was the first-born.

15And he blessed Yosĕph, and said, “The Elohim before whom my fathers Aḇraham and Yitsḥaq walked, the Elohim who has fed me all my life long to this day,

16the Messenger who has redeemed me from all evil – bless the youths! And let my name be called upon them, and the name of my fathers Aḇraham and Yitsḥaq. And let them increase to a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

17And when Yosĕph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephrayim, it was evil in his eyes; and he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from the head of Ephrayim to the head of Menashsheh.

18And Yosĕph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the first-born, put your right hand on his head.”

19But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also becomes a people, and he also is great. And yet, his younger brother is greater than he, and his seed is to become the completeness of the nations.”

20And he blessed them on that day, saying, “In you Yisra’ĕl shall bless, saying, ‘Elohim make you as Ephrayim and as Menashsheh!’ ” Thus he put Ephrayim before Menashsheh.

21And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “See, I am dying, but Elohim shall be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.

22“And I, I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”

GENESIS 49

1And Ya‛aqoḇ called his sons and said, “Gather together, so that I declare to you what is to befall you in the last days:

2“Gather together and hear, you sons of Ya‛aqoḇ, and listen to Yisra’ĕl your father.

3“Re’uḇĕn, you are my first-born, my power and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of exaltation and the excellency of power.

4“Boiling like water, you do not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, then you defiled it – he went up to my couch.

5“Shim‛on and Lĕwi are brothers, their weapons are implements of violence.

6“Let my being not enter their council, let my esteem not be united to their assembly; because they slew a man in their displeasure, and they lamed an ox in pleasure.

7“Cursed be their displeasure for it is fierce, and their wrath for it is cruel! I divide them in Ya‛aqoḇ and scatter them in Yisra’ĕl.

8“You, Yehuḏah, your brothers praise you; your hand is on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children bow down before you.

9“Yehuḏah is a lion’s cub; from the prey you have gone up, my son! He bowed down, he crouched like a lion. And like a lion, who does rouse him?

10“The sceptre shall not turn aside from Yehuḏah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to Him is the obedience of peoples.

11“Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes.

12“His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

13“Zeḇulun dwells at the seashore, he is for a haven for ships, and his border is unto Tsiḏon.

14“Yissasḵar is a strong donkey lying down between two burdens,

15and he saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, and he inclined his shoulder to bear a burden, and became a subject to slave labour.

16“Dan rightly rules his people as one of the tribes of Yisra’ĕl.

17“Dan is a serpent by the way, an adder by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward.

18“I have waited for your deliverance, O יהוה!

19“Gaḏ, a raiding band raids him, but he raids its heel.

20“Bread from Ashĕr is rich, and he gives delicacies of a sovereign.

21“Naphtali is a deer let loose, he gives words of elegance.

22“Yosĕph is an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree, an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree by a fountain, his branches run over a wall.

23“And 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 made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Ya‛aqoḇ – from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Yisra’ĕl –

25from the Ěl of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens 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 limit of the everlasting hills. They are on the head of Yosĕph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers.

27“Binyamin is a wolf that tears, in the morning he eats prey, and at night he divides the spoil.”

28All these are the twelve tribes of Yisra’ĕl, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them, he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

29And he commanded 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 Ḥittite,

30in the cave that is in the field of Maḵpĕlah, which is before Mamrĕ in the land of Kena‛an, which Aḇraham bought with the field of Ephron the Ḥittite as a possession for a burial site.

31There they buried Aḇraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Yitsḥaq and Riḇqah his wife, and there I buried Lĕ’ah –

32the field purchased, and the cave which is in it, from the sons of Ḥĕth.”

33And when Ya‛aqoḇ ended commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

GENESIS 50

1And Yosĕph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him, and kissed him.

2And Yosĕph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Yisra’ĕl.

3And forty days were completed for him, for so are completed the days of embalming. And the Mitsrites wept for him seventy days.

4And when the days of weeping for him were past, Yosĕph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If, now, I have found favour in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,

5‘My father made me swear, saying, “See, I am dying, bury me in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Kena‛an.” And now, please let me go up and bury my father, and return.’ ”

6And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

7And Yosĕph 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 Mitsrayim,

8and all the house of Yosĕph, and his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.

9And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great company.

10And they came to the threshing-floor of Ataḏ, which is beyond the Yardĕn, and they lamented there with a great and very heavy lamentation. And he observed seven days of mourning for his father.

11And when the inhabitants of the land, the Kena‛anites, saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Ataḏ, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Mitsrites.” That is why its name was called Aḇĕl Mitsrayim, which is beyond the Yardĕn.

12And his sons did to him as he had commanded them,

13for his sons brought him to the land of Kena‛an, and buried him in the cave of the field of Maḵpĕlah, before Mamrĕ, which Aḇraham bought with the field from Ephron the Ḥittite as property for a burial site.

14And after he had buried his father, Yosĕph returned to Mitsrayim, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

15And when Yosĕph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Yosĕph hates us, and pays us back all the evil which we did to him?”

16And they sent word to Yosĕph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying,

17‘This is what you are to say to Yosĕph, “I beg you, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the Elohim of your father.” And Yosĕph wept when they spoke to him.

18And his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “See, we are your servants.”

19And Yosĕph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of Elohim?

20“And you, you intended evil against me, but Elohim intended it for good, in order to do it as it is this day, to keep a great many people alive.

21“And now, do not fear, I provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

22And Yosĕph dwelt in Mitsrayim, he and his father’s household. And Yosĕph lived one hundred and ten years.

23And Yosĕph saw Ephrayim’s children to the third generation. The children of Maḵir, son of Menashsheh, were also brought up on Yosĕph’s knees.

24And Yosĕph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but Elohim shall certainly visit you and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Ya‛aqoḇ.”

25And Yosĕph made the children of Yisra’ĕl swear, saying, “Elohim shall certainly visit you, and you shall bring up my bones from here.”

26And Yosĕph died, being one hundred and ten years old. And they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Mitsrayim.