The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday January 24, 2019 (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. ²And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. ³And Jacob said to Joseph, ^(A)“God Almighty^[a] appeared to me at ^(B)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴and 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.’ ⁵And 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. ⁶And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷As 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).”

⁸When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹Joseph 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.” ¹⁰Now ^(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. ¹¹And Israel said to Joseph, ^(K)“I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” ¹²Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ¹³And 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). ¹⁵And 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.”

¹⁷When 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. ¹⁸And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹But 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.” ²⁰So 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. ²¹Then 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. ²²Moreover, 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.

²“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.

³“Reuben, you are ^(AA)my firstborn,
my might, and the ^(AB)firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
⁴Unstable 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!

⁵^(AD)“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons ^(AE)of violence are their swords.
⁶Let 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.
⁷Cursed 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.

⁸“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.
⁹Judah 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?
¹⁰The ^(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.
¹¹Binding 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.
¹²His ^(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]
¹⁵He 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.
¹⁷Dan ^(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.
¹⁸I ^(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]
²³The archers ^(BE)bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
²⁴yet ^(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.
²⁶The 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

²⁸All 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. ²⁹Then 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, ³⁰in 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— ³²the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” ³³When 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:

Genesis 48:3 Hebrew El Shaddai
Genesis 48:7 Or about two hours' distance
Genesis 48:16 Or let them be like fish for multitude
Genesis 48:19 Hebrew fullness
Genesis 48:22 Or one portion of the land; Hebrew shekem, which sounds like the town and district called Shechem
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
Genesis 49:14 Or between its saddlebags
Genesis 49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid
Genesis 49:21 Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold
Genesis 49:22 Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall
Genesis 49:24 Hebrew the arms of his hands
Genesis 49:24 Or by the name of the Shepherd
Genesis 49:25 Hebrew Shaddai
Genesis 49:26 A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

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. ³⁰And 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.” ³³And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” ³⁴And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, ^(K)“Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶he 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. ³⁷And ^(M)they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ³⁸Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹And 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. ²He answered them,^[a] ^(S)“When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³And 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. ⁴^(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

⁵When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶Jesus said to them, “Watch and ^(X)beware of ^(Y)the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” ⁸But ^(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? ⁹^(AB)Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember ^(AC)the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹⁰Or ^(AD)the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹¹How 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:

Matthew 16:2 Some manuscripts omit the following words to the end of verse 3

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

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!
²May he send you help from ^(D)the sanctuary
and give you support from ^(E)Zion!
³May he ^(F)remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

⁴May he ^(G)grant you your heart's desire
and fulfill all your plans!
⁵May 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!

⁶Now 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.
⁷Some trust in ^(K)chariots and some in ^(L)horses,
^(M)but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
⁸They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.

⁹O Lord, save ^(N)the king!
May he answer us when we call.

Cross references:

Psalm 20:1 : [Gen. 35:3]
Psalm 20:1 : Prov. 18:10
Psalm 20:1 : Ps. 59:1; 69:29
Psalm 20:2 : Ps. 73:17; 2 Chr. 20:8
Psalm 20:2 : Ps. 128:5
Psalm 20:3 : [Acts 10:4]
Psalm 20:4 : Ps. 21:2
Psalm 20:5 : Ps. 9:14
Psalm 20:5 : Ps. 60:4; Song 6:4, 10
Psalm 20:6 : [Ps. 28:8]
Psalm 20:7 : Isa. 31:1; 36:9
Psalm 20:7 : Prov. 21:31
Psalm 20:7 : [1 Sam. 17:45; 2 Chr. 32:8]
Psalm 20:9 : Ps. 48:2

English Standard Version (ESV)

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.
²²For they are ^(D)life to those who find them,
and healing to all their^[a] flesh.
²³Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for ^(E)from it flow ^(F)the springs of life.
²⁴Put 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:

Proverbs 4:22 Hebrew his
Proverbs 4:26 Or Make level

English Standard Version (ESV)