Genesis 49, 50
My might and the beginning of my children;
You are hard to bear;
You are hardened in your self-will.
4 Unstable as water in your insolence,
You went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
They accomplished their injustice from their free choice.
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 hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it was self-willed;
And their wrath, for it was hardened.
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 sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion’s cub;
From being a shoot, my son, you have grown up.
He bows down, and slept as a lion and a cub;
And who shall rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from his loins,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the expectation of the nations.
11 Binding his colt to a vine,
And his donkey’s colt to its branch,
He will wash his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are gladdened from the wine,
And his teeth are whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun shall dwell by the seacoast;
He shall be near a haven for ships,
And his border shall adjoin Sidon.
14 “Issachar. desired what was good,
Resting between the inheritances;
15 And seeing his resting place was good
And the land was fertile,
He set his shoulder to hard work,
And became a farmer.
16 “Dan shall judge his own people
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
A viper lying in ambush by the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
That its rider may fall backward,
18 Waiting for the Lord’s salvation.
19 “As for Gad, a raider gang shall raid him,
But he shall raid them in close pursuit.
20 “As for Asher, his food shall be abundant,
And he will furnish dainties for rulers.
21 “Naphtali is a spreading stem,
Bestowing beauty by its produce.
22 “Joseph is a grown-up son,
A grown-up son that was envied.
Oh my youngest son, return to me.
23 They devised evil plans against him and reviled him,
And the archers were taking aim at him.
24 But their bows were broken by force,
And the sinews of the arms of their hands were enfeebled
On account of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob.
Thence, he who strengthened Israel
25 Is from the God of your father,
And my God has helped you and blessed you
With a blessing from heaven above
And with a blessing of the earth containing everything.
By reason of the blessing of breasts and the womb,
26 He made the blessings of your father and mother
Stronger than the blessings of stable mountains and everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph
And on the crown of the brothers he led.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he will still be eating,
And in the evening he will provide food.”
The Death and Burial of Jacob
28 All these are the twelve sons of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them; and he blessed each one according to his own blessing. 29 Then he charged them and said to them, “I am to be added to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 opposite Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought from 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 there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 Thus when Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was added to his people.
1 Now Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him, and kissed him. 2 Then 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 embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4 So when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the princes of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found grace in your sight, speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, in the grave I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ” 6 Then 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 sheep and oxen they left in the land of Goshen. 9 There also went up with him both chariots and horses, 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 So when the inhabitants of the land of Canaan saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called the Mourning of Egypt, which is beyond the Jordan. 12 Thus his sons did for him just as he commanded them. 13 For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, opposite Mamre, which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. 14 After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.
Joseph Comforts His Brothers
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil we did to him.” 16 So they came to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, 17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “I beg you, forgive the injustice of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.’ ” Now, forgive the injustice 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 So Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for I belong to 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 households.” Thus he comforted them and spoke to their heart.
Joseph Dies in Egypt
22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his brothers. Then Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation and the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph’s knees. 24 Then Joseph said to his brethren, “I am about to die; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land God swore to our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 25 Thus Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely 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 put him in a coffin in Egypt.
Psalms 20
1 For the End; a psalm by David.
2 O Lord, the king shall be glad in Your power,
And in Your salvation he will greatly rejoice.
3 You gave him his soul’s desire,
And You did not deprive him of his lips’ request.
(Pause)
4 For You anticipated him with blessings of goodness;
You placed a crown of precious stones on his head.
5 He asked You for life, and You gave it to him,
Length of days unto ages of ages.
6 Great is his glory in Your salvation;
Glory and majesty You shall place upon him.
7 For You shall give him blessing unto ages of ages;
You shall fill him with the joy of Your presence.
8 For the king hopes in the Lord,
And in the mercy of the Most High he will not be shaken.
9 May Your hand be found on all Your enemies;
May Your right hand find all who hate You.
10 You shall make them like a fiery furnace
In the time of Your presence;
The Lord shall throw them into confusion in His wrath,
And the fire shall devour them.
11 You shall destroy their offspring from the earth
And their seed from among the sons of men.
12 For they vented all their evils against You;
They reasoned through a counsel they could not establish.
13 For You shall make them turn their back;
Among Your remnants, You shall make ready their countenance.
14 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your power;
We will sing and praise Your mighty deeds.
Proverbs 3:33–38
33 Do not be ready to quarrel with a man in vain,
Lest he do you some harm.
34 Do not incur the reproach of evil men,
Neither seek their ways;
35 For every lawless man is unclean before the Lord,
And he does not sit among the righteous.
36 The curse of God is in the houses of the ungodly,
But He blesses the dwellings of the righteous.
37 The Lord opposes the arrogant,
But He gives grace to the humble.
38 The wise shall inherit glory,
But the ungodly exalt dishonor.
Matthew 12:22–50
22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
26 “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
27 “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
30 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
32 “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
34 “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
35 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
36 “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
37 “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
41 “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
42 “The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.
44 “Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
45 “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.
47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”
48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”
49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!50 “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”