The Daily Audio Bible

Jacob’s Funeral and Joseph’s Remaining Time in Egypt

50 Then Joseph fell on the face of his father and wept upon him and kissed him. ² And Joseph instructed his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were required for it,^[a] for thus are the days required for^[b] embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. ⁴ When the days of his weeping had passed, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, ⁵ ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die. In the tomb that I have hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan—there you must bury me.” So then, please let me go up and let me bury my father; then I will return.’” ⁶ Then Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father as he made you swear.” ⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. And all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, went up with him, ⁸ with all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and the household of his father. They left only their little children and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. ⁹ And there also went up with him chariots and horsemen. The company was very great. ¹⁰ When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which was beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful wailing. And he made a mourning ceremony for his father seven days. ¹¹ And when the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, saw the mourning ceremony at the threshing floor of Atad they said, “This is a severe mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel-Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. ¹² Thus his sons did to him just as he had instructed them. ¹³ And his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which field Abraham had bought as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite before^[c] Mamre. ¹⁴ And after burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵ And when the brothers of Joseph saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hold a grudge against us and pay us back dearly for all the evil that we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph saying, “Your father commanded us before his death, saying, ¹⁷ “Thus you must say to Joseph, ‘O, please now forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you.’ So now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ Then his brothers went also and fell before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ Then Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? ²⁰ As for you, you planned evil against me, but God planned it for good, in order to do this—to keep many people alive—as it is today. ²¹ So then, do not be afraid. I myself will provide for you and your little ones. And he consoled them and spoke kindly^[d] to them.

The Death of Joseph

²² So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and the house of his father. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. ²³ And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. Moreover, the children of Makir, son of Manasseh, were born on the knees of Joseph. ²⁴ And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly visit you and bring you up from this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall bring up my bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old. They embalmed him and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Israel and Oppression in Egypt

1 And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt; with Jacob, they each came with his family:^{[e] 2} Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵ And all those who descended from Jacob^[f] were seventy individuals,^[g] and Joseph was in Egypt. ⁶ And Joseph died and all of his brothers and all of that generation. ⁷ And the Israelites^[h] were fruitful and multiplied and were many and were very, very numerous, and the land was filled with them.

⁸ And a new king rose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the Israelites^[i] are greater and more numerous than us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, lest they become many, and when war happens, they also will join our enemies and will fight against us and go up from the land.” ¹¹ And they appointed commanders of forced labor over them in order to oppress them with their forced labor,^[j] and they built storage cities for Pharaoh—Pithom and Rameses. ¹² And as he oppressed them, so they became many, and so they spread out, and the Egyptians were afraid because of the presence of the Israelites.^{[k] 13} And the Egyptians ruthlessly compelled the Israelites^[l] to work. ¹⁴ And they made their lives bitter with hard work with mortar and with bricks and with all sorts of work in the field—with all their work in which they ruthlessly enslaved them.

¹⁵ And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the second was Puah— ¹⁶ and he said, “When you help the Hebrews give birth, you will look upon the pairs of testicles; if he is a son, you will put him to death, and if she is a daughter, she will live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had said to them. They let the boys live. ¹⁸ And the king of Egypt summoned the midwives, and he said to them, “Why have you done this thing and let the boys live?” ¹⁹ And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, because they are vigorous; before the midwife comes to them, they have given birth.” ²⁰ And God did the midwives good, and the Israelite people became many and were very numerous. ²¹ And so^[m] because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.^{[n] 22} And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you will throw into the Nile, and every daughter you will let live.”

The Birth and Early Life of Moses

2 And a man from the family^[o] of Levi went, and he took a descendent of Levi.^{[p] 2} And the woman conceived, and she gave birth to a son, and she saw him, that he was a fine baby, and she hid him three months. ³ But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him, and she coated it with tar and with pitch, and she placed the boy in it, and she placed it among the reeds on the bank of the Nile. ⁴ And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. ⁵ And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to wash at the Nile, while her maidservants were walking alongside the Nile, and she saw the basket in the midst of the reeds, and she sent her slave woman for it and took it ⁶ and opened it and saw him—the boy—and it was a lad weeping, and she had compassion for him and said, “This must be from the boys of the Hebrews.”^{[q] 7} And his sister said to the daughter of Pharaoh, “Shall I go and call for you a woman from the Hebrews who is nursing so that she will nurse the boy for you?” ⁸ And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, “Go.” And the girl went, and she called the mother of the boy. ⁹ And the daughter of Pharaoh said, “Take this boy and nurse him for me, and I myself will give you wages, and the woman took the boy, and she nursed him. ¹⁰ And the boy grew, and she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he became her son, and she called his name Moses, and she said, “Because I drew him out from the water.”

Peter’s Confession at Caesarea Philippi

¹³ Now when^[a] Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,^[b] he began asking^[c] his disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, Some^[d] say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ And Simon Peter answered and^[e] said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered and^[f] said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this^[g] to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it! ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound^[h] in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released^[i] in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day. ²² And Peter took him aside and^[j] began to rebuke him, saying, God forbid,^[k] Lord! This will never happen to you!” ²³ But he turned around and^[l] said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a cause for stumbling to me, because you are not intent on the things of God, but the things of people!”

Taking Up One’s Cross to Follow Jesus

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me will find it. ²⁶ For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and at that time he will reward each one according to what he has done.^{[m] 28} Truly I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

The Transfiguration

17 And after six days Jesus took along Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became bright as the light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. ⁴ So Peter answered and^[n] said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here! If you want, I will make here three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While^[o] he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” ⁶ And when^[p] the disciples heard this,^[q] they fell down on their faces and were extremely frightened. ⁷ And Jesus came and touched them and^[r] said, “Get up and do not be afraid.” ⁸ And when they^[s] lifted up their eyes they saw no one except him—Jesus alone.

⁹ And as^[t] they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them saying, “Tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

Joy in the Salvation of Yahweh

For the music director. A psalm of David.^[a]