Day 104 of 365

¹Joseph fell on his father's face, wept on him, and kissed him.

²Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel.

³Forty days were fulfilled for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for him for seventy days.

⁴When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,

⁵'My father made me swear, saying, "Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan." Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.'"

⁶Pharaoh said, "Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear."

⁷Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt,

⁸all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.

⁹There went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company.

¹⁰They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days.

¹¹When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians." Therefore, its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

¹²His sons did to him just as he commanded them,

¹³for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

¹⁴Joseph returned into Egypt-he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

¹⁵When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him."

¹⁶They sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father commanded before he died, saying,

¹⁷'You shall tell Joseph, "Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you."' Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."

¹⁹Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?

²⁰As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.

²¹Now therefore do not be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones." He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

²²Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father's house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years.

²³Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph's knees.

²⁴Joseph said to his brothers, "I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."

²⁵Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."

²⁶So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

¹Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):

²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

⁵All the souls who came out of Jacob's body were seventy-five souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already.

⁶Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation.

⁷The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

⁹He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.

¹⁰Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape out of the land."

¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.

¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel.

¹³The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,

¹⁴and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.

¹⁵The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,

¹⁶and he said, "When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."

¹⁷But the midwives feared God, and did not do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.

¹⁸The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and have saved the boys alive?"

¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them."

²⁰God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.

²¹It happened, because the midwives feared God, that he gave them families.

²²Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."

¹A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife.

²The woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.

³When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.

⁴His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him.

⁵Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it.

⁶She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. And she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."

⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"

⁸Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." The maiden went and called the child's mother.

⁹Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." The woman took the child, and nursed it.

¹⁰The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, "Because I drew him out of the water."

¹¹It happened in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers, and looked at their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.

¹²He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

¹³He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, "Why do you strike your fellow?"

¹⁴He said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" Moses was afraid, and said, "Surely this thing is known."

¹⁵Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.

¹⁷The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.

¹⁸When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, "How is it that you have returned so early today?"

¹⁹They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock."

²⁰He said to his daughters, "Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread."

²¹Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter.

²²She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, "I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land."

²³It happened in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.

²⁴God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

²⁵God saw the children of Israel, and God was concerned about them.

¹Bless the Lord, my soul. The Lord, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty.

²He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.

³He lays the beams of his chambers in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.

⁴He makes his angels winds; his servants flames of fire.

⁵He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.

⁶You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains.

⁷At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away.

⁸The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them.

⁹You have set a boundary that they may not pass over; that they do not turn again to cover the earth.

¹⁰He sends forth springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains.

¹¹They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹²The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches.

¹³He waters the mountains from his chambers. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.

¹⁴He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food out of the earth:

¹⁵wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man's heart.

¹⁶The Lord's trees are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted;

¹⁷where the birds make their nests. The stork makes its home in the fir trees.

¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

¹⁹He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set.

²⁰You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl.

²¹The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.

²²The sun rises, and they steal away, and lie down in their dens.

²³Man goes forth to his work, to his labor until the evening.

²⁴The Lord, how many are your works! In wisdom have you made them all. The earth is full of your riches.

²⁵There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals.

²⁶There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.

²⁷These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season.

²⁸You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good.

²⁹You hide your face: they are troubled; you take away their breath: they die, and return to the dust.

³⁰You send forth your Spirit: they are created. You renew the face of the ground.

³¹Let the glory of the Lord endure forever. Let the Lord rejoice in his works.

³²He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

³⁴Let your meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in the Lord.

³⁵Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. Let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, my soul. Praise the Lord!

¹A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but accurate weights are his delight.

²When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom.

³The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

⁴Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

⁵The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, but the unfaithful will be trapped by evil desires.

⁷When a wicked man dies, hope perishes, and expectation of power comes to nothing.

⁸A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place.

⁹With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but the righteous will be delivered through knowledge.

¹⁰When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. When the wicked perish, there is shouting.

¹¹By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

¹²One who despises his neighbor is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding holds his peace.

¹³One who brings gossip betrays a confidence, but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is one who keeps a secret.

¹⁴Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls, but in the multitude of counselors there is victory.

¹⁵He who is collateral for a stranger will suffer for it, but he who refuses pledges of collateral is secure.

¹⁶A gracious woman obtains honor, but violent men obtain riches.

¹⁷The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.

¹⁸Wicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

¹⁹He who is truly righteous gets life. He who pursues evil gets death.

²⁰Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.

²¹Most certainly, the evil man will not be unpunished, but the seed of the righteous will be delivered.

²²Like a gold ring in a pig's snout, is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

²³The desire of the righteous is only good. The expectation of the wicked is wrath.

²⁴There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.

²⁵The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.

²⁶People curse someone who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

²⁷He who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come to him.

²⁸He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.

²⁹He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind. The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.

³¹Behold, the righteous shall be repaid in the earth; how much more the wicked and the sinner!