The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday January 24, 2020 (NIV)

Genesis 48-49

Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

48 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. And Jacob said to Joseph, (A)“God Almighty[a] appeared to me at (B)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you (C)for an everlasting possession.’ And now your (D)two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, (E)are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow (F)Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance[b] to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, “Who are these?” Joseph said to his father, (G)“They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that (H)I may bless them.” 10 Now (I)the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, (J)and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, (K)“I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. 14 (L)And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, (M)crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 And he blessed Joseph and said,

“The God (N)before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
16 (O)the angel who has (P)redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;
and in them let (Q)my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them (R)grow into a multitude[c] in the midst of the earth.”

17 When Joseph saw that his father (S)laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, (T)“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, (U)his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude[d] of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying,
(V)‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’”

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but (W)God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to (X)you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope[e] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

Jacob Blesses His Sons

49 (Y)Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you (Z)in days to come.

“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.

“Reuben, you are (AA)my firstborn,
my might, and the (AB)firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you (AC)went up to your father's bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!

(AD)“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons (AE)of violence are their swords.
Let my soul come not into their council;
(AF)O my glory, (AG)be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they (AH)hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will (AI)divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.

“Judah, (AJ)your brothers shall praise you;
(AK)your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
(AL)your father's sons shall bow down before you.
Judah is (AM)a lion's cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
(AN)He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The (AO)scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff (AP)from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;[f]
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His (AQ)eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.

13 (AR)“Zebulun shall dwell at the (AS)shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.

14 (AT)“Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.[g]
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and (AU)became a servant at forced labor.

16 (AV)“Dan shall (AW)judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan (AX)shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse's heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 I (AY)wait for your salvation, O Lord.

19 (AZ)“Raiders shall raid (BA)Gad,[h]
but he shall raid at their heels.

20 (BB)“Asher's food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.

21 (BC)“Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns.[i]

22 “Joseph is (BD)a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.[j]
23 The archers (BE)bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yet (BF)his bow remained unmoved;
his arms[k] were made agile
by the hands of the (BG)Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is (BH)the Shepherd,[l] (BI)the Stone of Israel),
25 (BJ)by the God of your father who will help you,
by (BK)the Almighty[m] (BL)who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties (BM)of the everlasting hills.[n]
May they be (BN)on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

27 (BO)“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening (BP)dividing the spoil.”

Jacob's Death and Burial

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be (BQ)gathered to my people; (BR)bury me with my fathers (BS)in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, (BT)which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 (BU)There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There (BV)they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and (BW)was gathered to his people.

Footnotes:

  1. Genesis 48:3 Hebrew El Shaddai
  2. Genesis 48:7 Or about two hours' distance
  3. Genesis 48:16 Or let them be like fish for multitude
  4. Genesis 48:19 Hebrew fullness
  5. Genesis 48:22 Or one portion of the land; Hebrew shekem, which sounds like the town and district called Shechem
  6. Genesis 49:10 By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh
  7. Genesis 49:14 Or between its saddlebags
  8. Genesis 49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid
  9. Genesis 49:21 Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold
  10. Genesis 49:22 Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall
  11. Genesis 49:24 Hebrew the arms of his hands
  12. Genesis 49:24 Or by the name of the Shepherd
  13. Genesis 49:25 Hebrew Shaddai
  14. Genesis 49:26 A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills

Cross references:

  1. Genesis 48:3 : See ch. 17:1
  2. Genesis 48:3 : ch. 28:13, 19; 35:6, 9
  3. Genesis 48:4 : ch. 17:8
  4. Genesis 48:5 : ch. 41:50-52; 46:20
  5. Genesis 48:5 : Josh. 13:7; 14:4; 17:17
  6. Genesis 48:7 : See ch. 35:9-19
  7. Genesis 48:9 : [ch. 33:5]
  8. Genesis 48:9 : ch. 49:25, 26; Heb. 11:21; [ch. 27:4]
  9. Genesis 48:10 : [ch. 27:1]
  10. Genesis 48:10 : ch. 27:27
  11. Genesis 48:11 : [ch. 37:33; 45:26]
  12. Genesis 48:14 : ver. 17
  13. Genesis 48:14 : ver. 19
  14. Genesis 48:15 : ch. 17:1; 24:40
  15. Genesis 48:16 : ch. 28:15; 31:11, 13, 24; Ex. 23:20
  16. Genesis 48:16 : Isa. 44:22, 23; 49:7; 63:9; [2 Sam. 4:9; Ps. 34:22; 121:7]
  17. Genesis 48:16 : Amos 9:12; Acts 15:17
  18. Genesis 48:16 : [Num. 26:34, 37]
  19. Genesis 48:17 : ver. 14
  20. Genesis 48:19 : [See ver. 17 above]; ver. 14
  21. Genesis 48:19 : Num. 1:33, 35; 2:19, 21; Deut. 33:17
  22. Genesis 48:20 : [Ruth 4:11, 12]
  23. Genesis 48:21 : ch. 46:4; 50:24
  24. Genesis 48:22 : Josh. 24:32; John 4:5
  25. Genesis 49:1 : For ver. 1-27, see Deut. 33:6-25
  26. Genesis 49:1 : Num. 24:14; Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Isa. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hos. 3:5
  27. Genesis 49:3 : ch. 29:32
  28. Genesis 49:3 : Deut. 21:17
  29. Genesis 49:4 : ch. 35:22; 1 Chr. 5:1
  30. Genesis 49:5 : ch. 29:33, 34
  31. Genesis 49:5 : ch. 34:25, 26
  32. Genesis 49:6 : [Ps. 16:9; 57:8]
  33. Genesis 49:6 : [Ps. 26:9]
  34. Genesis 49:6 : Josh. 11:6, 9; 2 Sam. 8:4
  35. Genesis 49:7 : See Num. 3:5-13; Josh. 19:1-9; 1 Chr. 4:24-39
  36. Genesis 49:8 : ch. 29:35; [ch. 27:29]
  37. Genesis 49:8 : [Job 16:12]
  38. Genesis 49:8 : 1 Chr. 5:2
  39. Genesis 49:9 : Rev. 5:5; [Deut. 33:22; Hos. 5:14]
  40. Genesis 49:9 : [Num. 23:24; 24:9]
  41. Genesis 49:10 : Num. 24:17; Zech. 10:11
  42. Genesis 49:10 : Deut. 28:57
  43. Genesis 49:12 : Prov. 23:29
  44. Genesis 49:13 : [Deut. 33:18, 19]; Josh. 19:10, 11
  45. Genesis 49:13 : [Deut. 1:7; Josh. 9:1; Judg. 5:17]
  46. Genesis 49:14 : Judg. 5:16; [1 Chr. 12:32]
  47. Genesis 49:15 : Josh. 16:10
  48. Genesis 49:16 : [Deut. 33:22]
  49. Genesis 49:16 : ch. 30:6
  50. Genesis 49:17 : Judg. 18:27
  51. Genesis 49:18 : Ps. 25:5; 119:166, 174; Isa. 25:9; Mic. 7:7; [Luke 2:25]
  52. Genesis 49:19 : [Deut. 33:20]
  53. Genesis 49:19 : See 1 Chr. 5:18-22
  54. Genesis 49:20 : [Deut. 33:24]
  55. Genesis 49:21 : [Deut. 33:23]
  56. Genesis 49:22 : ch. 41:52; Josh. 17:14, 18
  57. Genesis 49:23 : [ch. 37:24, 28; 39:20]
  58. Genesis 49:24 : Job 29:20
  59. Genesis 49:24 : Ps. 132:2, 5; Isa. 1:24
  60. Genesis 49:24 : Ps. 23:1; 80:1
  61. Genesis 49:24 : Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:4; [Deut. 32:4]
  62. Genesis 49:25 : ch. 35:3; 50:17
  63. Genesis 49:25 : ch. 17:1; 35:11
  64. Genesis 49:25 : Deut. 33:13
  65. Genesis 49:26 : Deut. 33:15; Hab. 3:6
  66. Genesis 49:26 : Deut. 33:16
  67. Genesis 49:27 : [Judg. 20:21, 25; Ezek. 22:27]
  68. Genesis 49:27 : Zech. 14:1; [Ezek. 39:10]
  69. Genesis 49:29 : ver. 33; ch. 25:8
  70. Genesis 49:29 : ch. 47:30
  71. Genesis 49:29 : ch. 50:13; [ch. 23:9]
  72. Genesis 49:30 : See ch. 23:16-18
  73. Genesis 49:31 : ch. 23:19; 25:9
  74. Genesis 49:31 : ch. 35:29
  75. Genesis 49:33 : ver. 29
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Matthew 15:29-16:12

Jesus Heals Many

29 (A)Jesus went on from there and walked (B)beside the Sea of Galilee. And he (C)went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them (D)the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 (E)so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, (F)the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And (G)they glorified (H)the God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

32 (I)Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, (J)“I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, (K)“Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and (L)having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And (M)they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of (N)Magadan.

The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs

16 (O)And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and (P)to test him (Q)they asked him to show them (R)a sign from heaven. He answered them,[a] (S)“When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ (T)You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret (U)the signs of the times. (V)An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So (W)he left them and departed.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch and (X)beware of (Y)the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” But (Z)Jesus, aware of this, said, (AA)“O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? (AB)Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember (AC)the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10 Or (AD)the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? (AE)Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 (AF)Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of (AG)the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Footnotes:

  1. Matthew 16:2 Some manuscripts omit the following words to the end of verse 3
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Psalm 20

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

20 May the Lord (A)answer you in the day of trouble!
May (B)the name of the God of Jacob (C)protect you!
May he send you help from (D)the sanctuary
and give you support from (E)Zion!
May he (F)remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

May he (G)grant you your heart's desire
and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over (H)your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our (I)banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with (J)the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in (K)chariots and some in (L)horses,
(M)but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.

O Lord, save (N)the king!
May he answer us when we call.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Proverbs 4:20-27

20 (A)My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 (B)Let them not escape from your sight;
(C)keep them within your heart.
22 For they are (D)life to those who find them,
and healing to all their[a] flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for (E)from it flow (F)the springs of life.
24 Put away from you (G)crooked speech,
and put (H)devious talk far from you.
25 (I)Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 (J)Ponder[b] the path of your feet;
(K)then all your ways will be sure.
27 (L)Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.

Footnotes:

  1. Proverbs 4:22 Hebrew his
  2. Proverbs 4:26 Or Make level
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.