The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday January 23, 2018 (NIV)

Jacob’s household moves to Egypt

46 Israel packed up everything he owned and traveled to Beer-sheba. There he offered sacrifices to his father Isaac’s God. ² God said to Israel in a vision at night, “Jacob! Jacob!” and he said, “I’m here.” ³ He said, “I am El,^[a] your father’s God. Don’t be afraid to go down to Egypt because I will make a great nation of you there. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you, and I promise to bring you out again. Joseph will close your eyes when you die.” ⁵ Then Jacob left Beer-sheba. Israel’s sons put their father Jacob, their children, and their wives on the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They took their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and arrived in Egypt, Jacob and all of his children with him. ⁷ His sons and grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters—all of his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

²⁸ Israel had sent Judah ahead to Joseph so that Joseph could explain the way to Goshen. Then they arrived in the land of Goshen. ²⁹ Joseph hitched up his chariot and went to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he arrived, he threw his arms around his neck and wept, embracing him for a long time. ³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, “I can die now after seeing your face. You are really still alive!”

Jacob’s household settles in Egypt

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “Let me go up and inform Pharaoh and tell him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have arrived. ³² The men are shepherds, because they own livestock. They’ve brought with them their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ ³³ When Pharaoh summons you and says, ‘What do you do?’ ³⁴ say, ‘Your servants have owned livestock since we were young, both we and our ancestors,’ so that you will be able to settle in the land of Goshen, since Egyptians think all shepherds are beneath their dignity.”

47 Joseph went to inform Pharaoh and said, “My father and brothers with their flocks, herds, and everything they own have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.” ² From all of his brothers, he selected five men and presented them before Pharaoh.

³ Pharaoh said to Joseph’s brothers, “What do you do?”

They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our ancestors.” ⁴ They continued, “We’ve come to the land as immigrants because the famine is so severe in the land of Canaan that there are no more pastures for your servants’ flocks. Please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since your father and brothers have arrived, ⁶ the land of Egypt is available to you. Settle your father and brothers in the land’s best location. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if you know capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

⁷ Joseph brought his father Jacob and gave him an audience with Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh, ⁸ and Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

⁹ Jacob said to Pharaoh, “I’ve been a traveler for 130 years. My years have been few and difficult. They don’t come close to the years my ancestors lived during their travels.” ¹⁰ Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left Pharaoh’s presence. ¹¹ Joseph settled his father and brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best location in the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh had ordered. ¹² Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and his father’s entire household, in proportion to the number of children.

Joseph centralizes power in Egypt

¹³ There was no food in the land because the famine was so severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan dried up from the famine. ¹⁴ Joseph collected all of the silver to be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain, which people came to buy, and he deposited it in Pharaoh’s treasury. ¹⁵ The silver from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan had been spent, and all of the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes, just because the silver is gone?”

¹⁶ Joseph said, “Give me your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock if the silver is gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food for the horses, flocks, cattle, and donkeys. He got them through that year with food in exchange for all of their livestock.

¹⁸ When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We can’t hide from my master that the silver is spent and that we’ve given the livestock to my master. All that’s left for my master is our corpses and our farmland. ¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes, we and our farmland too? Buy us and our farms for food, and we and our farms will be under Pharaoh’s control. Give us seed so that we can stay alive and not die, and so that our farmland won’t become unproductive.” ²⁰ So Joseph bought all of Egypt’s farmland for Pharaoh because every Egyptian sold his field when the famine worsened. So the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ He moved the people to the cities^[d] from one end of Egypt to the other. ²² However, he didn’t buy the farmland of the priests because Pharaoh allowed the priests a subsidy, and they were able to eat from the subsidy Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they didn’t have to sell their farmland.

²³ Joseph said to the people, “Since I’ve now purchased you and your farmland for Pharaoh, here’s seed for you. Plant the seed on the land. ²⁴ When the crop comes in, you must give one-fifth to Pharaoh. You may keep four-fifths for yourselves, for planting fields, and for feeding yourselves, those in your households, and your children.”

²⁵ The people said, “You’ve saved our lives. If you wish, we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁶ So Joseph made a law that still exists today: Pharaoh receives one-fifth from Egypt’s farmland. Only the priests’ farmland didn’t become Pharaoh’s.

Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

²⁷ Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. They settled in it, had many children, and became numerous. ²⁸ After Jacob had lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years, and after he had lived a total of 147 years, ²⁹ Israel’s death approached. He summoned his son Joseph and said to him, “If you would be so kind, lay your hand under my thigh, and be loyal and true to me. Don’t bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ When I lie down with my fathers, carry me from Egypt and bury me in their grave.”

Joseph said, “I will do just as you say.”

³¹ Israel said, “Give me your word!” and Joseph gave his word. Then Israel slumped down at the head of the bed.

Rules from the elders

15 Then Pharisees and legal experts came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why are your disciples breaking the elders’ rules handed down to us? They don’t ritually purify their hands by washing before they eat.”

³ Jesus replied, “Why do you break the command of God by keeping the rules handed down to you? ⁴  For God said, Honor your father and your mother,^[a] and The person who speaks against father or mother will certainly be put to death.^{[b] 5}  But you say, ‘If you tell your father or mother, “Everything I’m expected to contribute to you I’m giving to God as a gift,” then you don’t have to honor your father.’ ⁶  So you do away with God’s Law for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you. ⁷  Hypocrites! Isaiah really knew what he was talking about when he prophesied about you, ⁸ This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me. ⁹ Their worship of me is empty since they teach instructions that are human rules.”^[c]

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd near and said to them, “Listen and understand. ¹¹  It’s not what goes into the mouth that contaminates a person in God’s sight. It’s what comes out of the mouth that contaminates the person.”

¹² Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended by what you just said?”

¹³ Jesus replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be pulled up. ¹⁴  Leave the Pharisees alone. They are blind people who are guides to blind people. But if a blind person leads another blind person, they will both fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵ Then Peter spoke up, “Explain this riddle to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet? ¹⁷  Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸  But what goes out of the mouth comes from the heart. And that’s what contaminates a person in God’s sight. ¹⁹  Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adultery, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and insults. ²⁰  These contaminate a person in God’s sight. But eating without washing hands doesn’t contaminate in God’s sight.”

Canaanite woman

²¹ From there, Jesus went to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from those territories came out and shouted, “Show me mercy, Son of David. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” ²³ But he didn’t respond to her at all.

His disciples came and urged him, “Send her away; she keeps shouting out after us.”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “I’ve been sent only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”

²⁵ But she knelt before him and said, “Lord, help me.”

²⁶ He replied, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs.”

²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall off their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith. It will be just as you wish.” And right then her daughter was healed.

Psalm 19

For the music leader. A psalm of David.