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Genesis 47:13-26
/RSS FeedGenesis 47:13-26
13 There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.
14 Joseph collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were buying, and he brought it into Pharaoh’s palace.
15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our funds have run out!”
16 “Then bring me your livestock,” said Joseph. “Since the money is gone, I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock.”
17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. Throughout that year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.
18 When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all 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? Purchase us and our land in exchange for food. Then we, along with our land, will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”
20 So Joseph acquired for Pharaoh all the land in Egypt; the Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields because the famine was so severe upon 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 acquire the priests’ portion of the land, for it had been given to them by Pharaoh. They ate the rations that Pharaoh supplied; so they did not sell their land.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh this day, here is seed for you to sow in the land.
24 At harvest time, you are to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths will be yours as seed for the field and food for yourselves and your households and children.”
25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “We have found favor in our lord’s eyes, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
26 So Joseph established a law that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh, and it is in effect in the land of Egypt to this day. Only the priests’ land does not belong to Pharaoh. -
Genesis 47:1-12
/RSS FeedGenesis 47:1-12
1 So Joseph went and told Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.”
2 And he chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
3 “What is your occupation?” Pharaoh asked Joseph’s brothers. “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our fathers.”
4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land for a time, because there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.”
5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you,
6 the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 “How many years have you lived?” Pharaoh asked.
9 “My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”
10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from his presence.
11 So Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12 Joseph also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families. -
Genesis 45:1-15
/RSS FeedGenesis 45:1-15
1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.
2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household soon heard of it.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But they were unable to answer him, because they were terrified in his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!
5 And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.
6 For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.
7 God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9 Now return quickly to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay.
10 You shall settle in the land of Goshen and be near me—you and your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own.
11 And there I will provide for you, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your household and everything you own will come to destitution.’
12 Behold! You and my brother Benjamin can see that I, Joseph, am the one speaking with you.
13 Tell my father about all my splendor in Egypt and everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”
14 Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept as they embraced.
15 Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept over them. And afterward his brothers talked with him. -
Genesis 43:1-15
/RSS FeedGenesis 43:1-15
1 Now the famine was still severe in the land.
2 So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”
3 But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’
4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.
5 But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”
6 “Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”
7 They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
8 And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.
9 I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.
10 If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”
11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
12 Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.
13 Take your brother as well, and return to the man at once.
14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
15 So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. -
Genesis 42:1-24
/RSS FeedGenesis 42:1-24
1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”
2 “Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”
3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”
5 So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
7 And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”
8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
9 Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”
10 “Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.
11 We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
12 “No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”
13 But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”
14 Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!
15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”
17 So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,
18 and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:
19 If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.
20 Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.
21 Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
22 And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”
23 They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.
24 And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. -
Genesis 41:46-57
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46 Now Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.
47 During the seven years of abundance, the land brought forth bountifully.
48 During those seven years, Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities. In every city he laid up the food from the fields around it.
49 So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance, like the sand of the sea, that he stopped keeping track of it; for it was beyond measure.
50 Before the years of famine arrived, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”
52 And the second son he named Ephraim, saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
53 When the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end,
54 the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt.
55 When extreme hunger came to all the land of Egypt and the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”
56 When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
57 And every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth. -
Genesis 41:14-36
/RSS FeedGenesis 41:14-36
14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
16 “I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.”
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile,
18 when seven cows, well-fed and sleek, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.
19 After them, seven other cows—sickly, ugly, and thin—came up. I have never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt!
20 Then the thin, ugly cows devoured the seven well-fed cows that were there first.
21 When they had devoured them, however, no one could tell that they had done so; their appearance was as ugly as it had been before. Then I awoke.
22 In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, growing on a single stalk.
23 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind.
24 And the thin heads of grain swallowed the seven plump ones. I told this dream to the magicians, but no one could explain it to me.”
25 At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads of grain are seven years. The dreams have the same meaning.
27 Moreover, the seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind—they are seven years of famine.
28 It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29 Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,
30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.
31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, since the famine that follows it will be so severe.
32 Moreover, because the dream was given to Pharaoh in two versions, the matter has been decreed by God, and He will carry it out shortly.
33 Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.
35 Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities.
36 This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.” -
Revelation 6:1-8
/RSS FeedRevelation 6:1-8
1 Then I watched as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a thunderous voice, “Come!”
2 So I looked and saw a white horse, and its rider held a bow. And he was given a crown, and he rode out to overcome and conquer.
3 And when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
4 Then another horse went forth. It was bright red, and its rider was granted permission to take away peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. And he was given a great sword.
5 And when the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” Then I looked and saw a black horse, and its rider held in his hand a pair of scales.
6 And I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine.”
7 And when the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”
8 Then I looked and saw a pale green horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, by famine, by plague, and by the beasts of the earth.
