Old/New Testament
Jacob’s Last Words
49 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.[a](A)
2 Come together and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to your father Israel:
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,(B)
my strength and the firstfruits of my virility,(C)
excelling in prominence, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as water, you will not excel,
because you got into your father’s bed(D)
and you defiled it—he[b] got into my bed.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers;
their knives are vicious weapons.(E)
6 May I never enter their council;
may I never join their assembly.
For in their anger they kill men,
and on a whim they hamstring oxen.
7 Their anger is cursed, for it is strong,
and their fury, for it is cruel!
I will disperse them throughout Jacob
and scatter them throughout Israel.(F)
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you.(G)
Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.(H)
9 Judah is a young lion(I)—
my son, you return from the kill.
He crouches; he lies down like a lion
or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah
or the staff from between his feet
until he whose right it is comes[c](J)
and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.(K)
11 He ties his donkey to a vine,
and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine.
He washes his clothes in wine
and his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun will live by the seashore
and will be a harbor for ships,
and his territory will be next to Sidon.(L)
14 Issachar is a strong donkey
lying down between the saddlebags.[d]
15 He saw that his resting place was good
and that the land was pleasant,
so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load
and became a forced laborer.(M)
16 Dan will judge his people(N)
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a snake by the road,
a viper beside the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider falls backward.
18 I wait for your salvation, Lord.
19 Gad will be attacked by raiders,
but he will attack their heels.(O)
21 Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.(Q)
22 Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine beside a spring;
its branches[f] climb over the wall.[g]
23 The archers attacked him,
shot at him, and were hostile toward him.
24 Yet his bow remained steady,
and his strong arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,(R)
by the name of[h] the Shepherd,(S) the Rock of Israel,(T)
25 by the God of your father who helps you,
and by the Almighty who blesses you
with blessings of the heavens above,
blessings of the deep that lies below,
and blessings of the breasts and the womb.
26 The blessings of your father excel
the blessings of my ancestors[i]
and[j] the bounty of the ancient hills.[k](U)
May they rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey.
In the morning he devours the prey,
and in the evening he divides the plunder.”(V)
28 These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.
Jacob’s Burial Instructions
29 Then he commanded them, “I am about to be gathered to my people.(W) Bury me with my ancestors(X) in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hethite.(Y) 30 The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hethite as burial property.(Z) 31 Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there,(AA) Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there,(AB) and I buried Leah there.(AC) 32 The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hethites.” 33 When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people.
Jacob’s Burial
50 Then Joseph, leaning over his father’s face, wept and kissed him. 2 He commanded his servants who were physicians to embalm his father. So they embalmed Israel. 3 They took forty days to complete this, for embalming takes that long, and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.(AD)
4 When the days of mourning were over, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s household, “If I have found favor with you, please tell Pharaoh that 5 my father made me take an oath,(AE) saying, ‘I am about to die. You must bury me there in the tomb that I made for myself in the land of Canaan.’(AF) Now let me go and bury my father. Then I will return.”
6 So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father in keeping with your oath.”
7 Then Joseph went to bury his father, and all Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt went with him, 8 along with all Joseph’s family, his brothers, and his father’s family. Only their dependents, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 Horses and chariots went up with him; it was a very impressive procession. 10 When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wept loudly, and Joseph mourned seven days for his father. 11 When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a solemn mourning on the part of the Egyptians.” Therefore the place is named Abel-mizraim.[l] It is across the Jordan.
12 So Jacob’s sons did for him what he had commanded them. 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased as burial property from Ephron the Hethite.(AG) 14 After Joseph buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him to bury his father.
Joseph’s Kindness
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, “If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering we caused him.”(AH)
16 So they sent this message to Joseph, “Before he died your father gave a command: 17 ‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin—the suffering they caused you.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept(AI) when their message came to him. 18 His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!”
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?(AJ) 20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.(AK) 21 Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.”(AL) And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.[m]
Joseph’s Death
22 Joseph and his father’s family remained in Egypt. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation;(AM) the sons of Manasseh’s son Machir were recognized by[n][o] Joseph.(AN)
24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die,(AO) but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land he swore to give to Abraham,(AP) Isaac,(AQ) and Jacob.”(AR) 25 So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: “When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.”(AS)
26 Joseph died at the age of 110. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Leaven
31 He(A) presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven(B) is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”(C)
33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven[a] that a woman took and mixed into fifty pounds[b] of flour until all of it was leavened.”(D)
Using Parables Fulfills Prophecy
34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable,(E) 35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
I will open my mouth in parables;
I will declare things kept secret
from the foundation of the world.[c][d](F)
Jesus Interprets the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”(G)
37 He replied, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,(H) 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.(I) 40 Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.(J) 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin[e] and those guilty of lawlessness.[f](K) 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace(L) where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(M) 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears[g] listen.(N)
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and of the Priceless Pearl
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.(O)
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless[h] pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.(P)
The Parable of the Net
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish,(Q) 48 and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,(R) 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(S)
The Storehouse of Truth
51 “Have you understood all these things?”[i]
They answered him, “Yes.”
52 “Therefore,” he said to them, “every teacher of the law[j] who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.”(T)
Rejection at Nazareth
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left there. 54 He went to his hometown(U) and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?(V) 55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?(W) Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James,(X) Joseph,[k] Simon, and Judas?(Y) 56 And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all these things?” 57 And they were offended by him.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”(Z) 58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
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