The Daily Audio Bible
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The Brothers Leave for Canaan
44 Later, Joseph[a] commanded his palace manager, “Fill the men’s sacks to full capacity with food and replace each man’s money at the top of the sack. 2 Then place my cup—the silver one—in the top of the sack belonging to the youngest one, along with the money he brought to buy[b] grain.” So the manager[c] did precisely what Joseph told him to do.
3 Early the next morning, the men were sent on their way, along with their donkeys. 4 They had not traveled far from the city when Joseph ordered his palace manager, “Get up, follow those men, and when you’ve caught up with them, ask them, ‘Why did you repay evil for good? 5 Don’t you have[d] the cup that my master uses to drink from and also uses to practice divination? You’re wrong to have done this.’” 6 So he went after them and made that accusation.
7 “Your Excellency,” they replied, “Why do you speak like this? Far be it from your servants to act like this. 8 Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money that we found at the top of our sacks. How, then, could we have stolen silver or gold from your master’s palace? 9 Go ahead and execute whichever one of your servants is discovered to have it, and we’ll remain as your master’s slaves.”
10 “Agreed,” he responded. “Just as you’ve said, the one who is found to have it in his possession will become my slave, and the rest of[e] you will be innocent.”
11 So they quickly dismounted, unloaded their sacks onto the ground, and each one of them opened his own sack. 12 The palace manager[f] searched for the cup, beginning with the oldest brother’s sack and ending with the youngest brother’s sack, and there it was!—in Benjamin’s sack. 13 At this, they all tore their clothes,[g] reloaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.
Joseph Confronts His Brothers
14 Joseph was waiting for them back at his palace when his brothers returned. They fell to the ground in front of him, 15 and Joseph asked them, “Why did you do this? Don’t you know that I’m an expert at divination?”
Judah Explains Their Predicament
16 “What can we say, Your Excellency?” Judah replied. “How can we explain this or justify ourselves? God has discovered the sin of your servants, and now we’ve become slaves to you, Your Excellency, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been discovered.”
17 “Far be it from me to do this,” Joseph[h] responded. “The man in whose possession the cup was discovered will be my slave, but the rest of you may leave in peace to be with your father.”
18 But Judah approached him and begged him, “Your Excellency, please allow your servant to speak to you privately.[i] Please don’t be angry with your servant, since you are equal to Pharaoh. 19 Your Excellency asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or brother?’ 20 and we answered Your Excellency, ‘We have an aged father and a younger child who was born when he was old. His brother is now dead, so he’s the only surviving son of his mother. His father loves him.’
21 “But then you ordered your servants, ‘Bring him here to me so I can see him for myself.’ 22 So we told Your Excellency, ‘The young man cannot leave his father, because if he were to do so, his father would die.’ 23 But then you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes back with you, you won’t see my face again.’ 24 Later on, after we had gone back to your servant, my father, we told him what Your Excellency had said.
25 “‘Go back,’ our father ordered, ‘and buy us a little food.’
26 “But we told him, ‘We can’t go back there. If our youngest brother accompanies us, we’ll go back, but we cannot see the man’s face again unless our youngest brother accompanies us.’
27 “Then your servant, our father, told us, ‘You know my wife bore me two sons. 28 One of them left me, so I concluded “I’m certain that he has been torn to pieces,” and I haven’t seen him since then. 29 If you take this one from me, too, and then something harmful happens to him, then it will be death for me and my sad, gray hair!’[j]
30 “So when I go back to your servant, my father, and the young man isn’t with us, since he’s constantly living life focused on his son,[k] 31 when he notices that the young man hasn’t come back with us, he’ll die, and your servants really will have brought death to your servant, our father,[l] along with his sad, gray hair! 32 Also, your servant pledged his own life as[m] a guarantee of the young man’s safety. I told my father, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, you can blame me forever.’ 33 Therefore, please allow your servant to remain as a slave to Your Excellency, instead of the young man, and let the young man go back home with his brothers. 34 After all, how can I go back to my father if the young man doesn’t accompany me? I’m afraid of what might happen to my father.”
Joseph Reveals Himself
45 At this point, Joseph could not control his emotions any longer, so he cried out to everyone who was standing nearby, “Everybody! Leave me!” As a result, none of his staff[n] was anywhere near[o] him when he revealed himself to his brothers. 2 He cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, including Pharaoh’s household.
3 Joseph blurted out, “I’m Joseph! Is my father really alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, because they had become terrified[p] to be in his presence.
4 Joseph implored his brothers, “Please come close to me.” So they did.
“I’m your brother Joseph, whom you sold into slavery in[q] Egypt!” he told them. 5 “But[r] don’t be distressed or angry at yourselves because you sold me here, because God sent me ahead of you all in order to deliver us.[s] 6 That’s because this famine has been going on for two years now in this region, and there are still five years left, during which there won’t be any plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to keep you alive on the earth, and to save you all in a magnificent way. 8 As a result, it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God himself! He established me as a father-figure to Pharaoh himself! I’m in charge of his entire palace and ruler over the entire land of Egypt. 9 So hurry up, go back to my father, and tell him that his son Joseph tells him, ‘God has made me master of all of Egypt. Hurry up! Come live with me!’ 10 You are to live in the land of Goshen, near where I am—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and everything that you own. 11 I’ll provide for you there, since there are still five years of famine left to go, and you, your households, and everything you own would have otherwise become impoverished.
12 “Look, now! All of you can see me! And my own brother Benjamin can tell that it’s really me[t] speaking to you! 13 So go tell my father about all of my splendor in Egypt. Tell him about everything that you’ve seen. Be quick about it, and bring my father down here!”
14 Then he threw his arms around Benjamin[u] and wept as they embraced.[v] 15 He kissed all of his brothers and wept with them, too, and then his brothers were able to talk with him.
Pharaoh is Pleased
16 As soon as the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had arrived, Pharaoh and his servants were ecstatic. 17 Pharaoh told Joseph, “Be sure to tell your brothers, ‘Do this: load up your livestock, go back to the land of Canaan, 18 get your father and your households, and come back to me. I’ll give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can live off the abundance of the land.’ 19 In addition,” Pharaoh ordered, “Do this: take some transport wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones to ride in, along with your wives, and bring your father and come! 20 Don’t worry about your household goods, because the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.”
Joseph’s Brothers Go Back Home
21 So Israel’s sons did what they were asked to do, and Joseph provided wagons for them, as Pharaoh had commanded. He also gave them provisions for the journey. 22 He gave each of them some changes of clothes, but he also gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 He sent his father ten male donkeys loaded with the best of Egyptian goods and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provisions for his father during the journey. 24 Then Joseph[w] sent his brothers away, and they left for home.[x] As they were leaving, Joseph admonished them, “Don’t quarrel on the way back!”
25 So Joseph’s brothers[y] left Egypt and returned to the land of Canaan and to their father Jacob, 26 where they informed their father, “Joseph is still alive! As a matter of fact, he’s ruling the entire land of Egypt.” But Jacob didn’t believe them, because he had become cynical.[z] 27 However, as soon as his sons[aa] had told him everything Joseph had said, and after he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent along to carry him, their father Jacob’s spirit was encouraged.
28 “It’s enough,” Israel replied. “My son Joseph is still alive. I’m going to go see him before I die!”
Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People(A)
13 When Jesus heard this, he left that place and went[a] by boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of it and followed him on foot from the neighboring[b] towns. 14 When he got out of the boat,[c] he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them and healed their sick. 15 When evening had come, the disciples went to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and it’s already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 But Jesus told them, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 They told him, “We don’t have anything here except five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18 He said, “Bring them to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them[d] to the crowds. 20 All of them ate and were filled. Then the disciples[e] picked up what was left of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 Now those who had eaten were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(B)
22 Jesus[f] immediately had the disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him, while he sent the crowds away. 23 After dismissing the crowds, he went up on a hillside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 24 By this time the boat was in the middle of the sea[g] and was being battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25 Shortly before dawn,[h] Jesus[i] came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out, “It’s a ghost!” And they screamed in terror.
27 “Have courage!” Jesus immediately told them. “It’s me. Stop being afraid!”
28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water.”
29 Jesus[j] said, “Come on!” So Peter got down out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came[k] to Jesus.
30 But when he noticed the strong[l] wind, he was frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, save me!”
31 At once Jesus reached out his hand, caught him, and asked him, “You who have so little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 As they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing.
33 Then the men in the boat began to worship Jesus,[m] saying, “You certainly are the Son of God!”
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret(C)
34 They crossed over and came ashore at Gennesaret. 35 When the men of that place recognized Jesus,[n] they sent word[o] throughout that region and brought him everyone who was sick. 36 They kept begging him to let them touch just the tassel of his garment, and everyone who touched it was completely healed.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn around until they were utterly defeated.
38 I struck them down,
so they are not able to rise up;
they fell under my feet.
39 You clothed me with strength for war;
you will subdue under me those who rise up against me.
40 You have made my enemies turn their back to me,
and I will destroy those who hate me.
41 They cried out for deliverance,
but there was no one to deliver;
they cried out[a] to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
42 I ground them like wind-swept dust;
I emptied them out[b] like dirt in the street.
43 You rescued me from conflict with the people;
you made me head of the nations.
People who did not know me will serve me.
44 When they hear of me,[c] they will obey me;
foreigners will submit to me.
45 Foreigners will wilt away;
they will come trembling out of their stronghold.
46 The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
May the God of my deliverance be exalted!
47 He is the God who executes vengeance on my behalf;
who destroys peoples under me;
48 who delivers me from my enemies.
Truly you will exalt me above those who oppose me;
you will deliver me from the violent person.
49 Therefore, I will give thanks to you among the nations, Lord;
I will sing praises to your name.
50 He is the one who gives victories to his king;
who shows gracious love to his anointed,
to David and his seed forever.
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