Genesis 47
1 Now Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed, they are in the land of Goshen.”
2 So he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph’s brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.”
4 They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their cattle, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Let them dwell in the land of Goshen, and if you know of capable men among them, make them overseers of my cattle.” Thus Jacob and his sons came to Egypt, and Pharaoh king of Egypt heard about it. So 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.”
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 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourn are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have they been; but they have not attained to the days and years of my father’s sojourn in life.”†
10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before him.
11 Thus Joseph settled his father and brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded.
12 Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number of individual persons.
Joseph Confronts the Famine
13 Now there was no food in all the land; for the famine was very severe; and both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were devastated by the famine.
14 So Joseph gathered up all the money found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain they bought and all he doled out to them; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
15 Thus when the money ran out 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 our money has run out.”
16 Then Joseph said, “Bring your cattle, and I will give you bread for them, if your money has run out.”
17 So they brought their cattle to Joseph, and he gave them bread in exchange for their horses, sheep, oxen, and donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread that year in exchange for all their cattle.
18 When that year ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money has run out; and my lord also has our possessions and cattle. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
19 Why should we die therefore 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 So Joseph bought all the land of the Egyptians for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his land to Pharaoh, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s.
21 Now as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other.
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 Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.
23 Then Joseph said to all the Egyptians, “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 Then 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.”
25 So they said, “You have saved our lives; let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
26 Then 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 Promise to Jacob
27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they acquired possessions there and increased and multiplied exceedingly.
28 Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.
29 Thus when the time drew near for Jacob to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found grace in your sight, put your hand under my thigh, and deal with me in mercy and truth. 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.” So he said, “I will do as you say.”†
31 Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the top of his staff.
Psalms 43
1 For the End; a psalm for the sons of Korah; for understanding. †
2 O God, we heard with our ears; Our fathers proclaimed it to us, The work You performed in their days, in days of old.
3 Your hand utterly destroyed the nations, and You planted them; You afflicted and cast out peoples.
4 For they did not inherit the land with their sword, And their arm did not save them; But it was Your right hand and Your arm, And the light of Your countenance, Because You took pleasure in them.
5 You Yourself are my King and God, Who commands salvation for Jacob;
6 In You we shall push back our enemies, And in Your name we shall scorn those who rise up against us.
7 For I will not hope in my bow, And my sword will not save me;
8 For You saved us from those who afflict us, And You disgraced those who hate us.
9 We shall praise God all day long, And we shall give thanks to Your name forever. (Pause)
Proverbs of Solomon 8
32 Now therefore, my son, hear me: Blessed is the man who shall hearken to me And the man who shall guard my ways;†
33 Who watches daily at my doors, Who keeps watch at the doors of my entryways;
34 For my issues are the issues of life, And grace is prepared from the Lord.†
35 But those who sin against me act ungodly toward their own souls, And those who hate me love death.Ӡ
Matthew 27
The Death of Jesus
45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.†
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” †
47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!”
48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
49 The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.†
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,†
52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;†
53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”†
55 And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar,
56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.†
The Burial of Jesus
57 Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.†
58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him.
59 When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.†
61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.
Saturday: Guards at the Tomb
62 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate,
63 saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’
64 Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.”
66 So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.