¹Then Joseph vfell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. ²And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to wembalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ³Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians xwept for him seventy days.

⁴And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, y“If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ⁵‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb zthat I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’” ⁶And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” ⁷So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left ain the land of Goshen. ⁹And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. ¹⁰When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, bthey lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he cmade a mourning for his father seven days. ¹¹When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim;1 it is beyond the Jordan. ¹²Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, ¹³for dhis sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham ebought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. ¹⁴After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

God's Good Purposes

¹⁵When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” ¹⁶So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ¹⁷‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of fthe God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸His brothers also came and gfell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for ham I in the place of God? ²⁰As for you, you meant evil against me, but iGod meant it for good, to bring it about that many people2 should be kept alive, as they are today. ²¹So do not fear; jI will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

The Death of Joseph

²²So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. ²³And Joseph saw Ephraim's children kof the third generation. The lchildren also of Machir the son of Manasseh were mcounted as Joseph's own.3 ²⁴And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but nGod will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land othat he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵Then pJoseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They qembalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of jTiberius Caesar, kPontius Pilate lbeing governor of Judea, and mHerod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ²during nthe high priesthood of Annas and oCaiaphas, pthe word of God came to qJohn the son of Zechariah in rthe wilderness. ³And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming sa baptism of repentance tfor the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As it is written in uthe book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

v“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

w‘Prepare the way of the Lord,1

make his paths straight.

⁵xEvery valley shall be filled,

yand every mountain and hill shall be made low,

zand the crooked shall become straight,

and the rough places shall become level ways,

⁶aand all flesh shall see bthe salvation of God.’”

⁷He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, c“You brood of dvipers! Who warned you to flee from ethe wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits fin keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, g‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from hthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. iEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, j“What then shall we do?” ¹¹And he answered them, k“Whoever has two tunics2 is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ¹²lTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, jwhat shall we do?” ¹³And he said to them, m“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, jwhat shall we do?” And he said to them, m“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your nwages.”

¹⁵As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, owhether he might be pthe Christ, ¹⁶qJohn answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but rhe who is mightier than I is coming, sthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you twith the Holy Spirit and ufire. ¹⁷His vwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to wgather the wheat into his barn, xbut the chaff he will burn with yunquenchable fire.”

¹⁸So zwith many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹But aHerod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰added this to them all, that bhe locked up John in prison.

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, and when cJesus also had been baptized and was praying, dthe heavens were opened, ²²and ethe Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and fa voice came from heaven, g“You are my beloved Son;3 with you I am well pleased.”4

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

²³Jesus, hwhen he began his ministry, was about ithirty years of age, being jthe son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, kthe son of Zerubbabel, the son lof Shealtiel,5 the son of Neri, ²⁸the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of mNathan, the son of David, ³²nthe son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴othe son of Jacob, pthe son of Isaac, qthe son of Abraham, rthe son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Job 16

Job Replies: Miserable Comforters Are You

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“I have heard emany such things;

fmiserable comforters are you all.

³Shall gwindy words have an end?

Or what provokes you that you answer?

⁴I also could speak as you do,

if you were in my place;

I could join words together against you

and hshake my head at you.

⁵I could strengthen you with my mouth,

and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.

⁶“If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,

and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?

⁷Surely now God has worn me out;

ihe has1 made desolate all my company.

⁸And he has shriveled me up,

which is ja witness against me,

and my kleanness has risen up against me;

it testifies to my face.

⁹He has ltorn me in his wrath mand hated me;

he has ngnashed his teeth at me;

my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.

¹⁰Men have ogaped at me with their mouth;

they have pstruck me insolently on the cheek;

they qmass themselves together against me.

¹¹God gives me up to the ungodly

and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, and he broke me apart;

he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;

he set me up as his rtarget;

¹³his sarchers surround me.

He slashes open my kidneys tand does not spare;

he upours out my gall on the ground.

¹⁴He breaks me with vbreach upon breach;

he wruns upon me like a warrior.

¹⁵I have sewed xsackcloth upon my skin

and have laid ymy strength zin the dust.

¹⁶My face is red with weeping,

and on my eyelids is adeep darkness,

¹⁷although there is no bviolence in my hands,

and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸“O earth, ccover not my blood,

and let my dcry find no resting place.

¹⁹Even now, behold, my ewitness is in heaven,

and he who testifies for me is fon high.

²⁰My friends gscorn me;

my eye pours out tears to God,

²¹that he would hargue the case of a man with God,

as2 a son of man does with his neighbor.

²²For when a few years have come

I shall go the way ifrom which I shall not return.

Job 17

Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope?

¹“My spirit is broken; my days are jextinct;

kthe graveyard is ready for me.

²Surely there are mockers about me,

and my eye dwells on their lprovocation.

³“Lay down a pledge for me with you;

who is there who will put up msecurity for me?

⁴Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,

therefore you will not let them triumph.

⁵He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—

the neyes of his children will fail.

⁶“He has made me oa byword of the peoples,

and I am one before whom men spit.

⁷My peye has grown dim from vexation,

and all my members are like qa shadow.

⁸The upright are rappalled at this,

and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.

⁹Yet the righteous holds to his way,

and he who has sclean hands grows stronger and stronger.

¹⁰But you, tcome on again, all of you,

and I shall not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My udays are past; my plans are broken off,

the desires of my heart.

¹²They vmake night into day:

‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’1

¹³If I hope for wSheol as xmy house,

if I make my bed in darkness,

¹⁴if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

¹⁵where then is my hope?

Who will see my hope?

¹⁶Will it go down to the bars of wSheol?

Shall we ydescend together zinto the dust?”2

The Ministry of Apostles

¹This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and nstewards of the mysteries of God. ²Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. ³But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴oFor I am not aware of anything against myself, pbut I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵Therefore qdo not pronounce judgment before the time, rbefore the Lord comes, swho will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. tThen each one will receive his commendation from God.

⁶I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,1 that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may ube puffed up in favor of one against another. ⁷For who sees anything different in you? vWhat do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

⁸Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! ⁹For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, wlike men sentenced to death, because we xhave become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. ¹⁰yWe are fools for Christ's sake, but zyou are wise in Christ. aWe are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. ¹¹To the present hour bwe hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and cbuffeted and dhomeless, ¹²and we elabor, working with our own hands. fWhen reviled, we bless; gwhen persecuted, we endure; ¹³when slandered, we entreat. hWe have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, ithe refuse of all things.

¹⁴I do not write these things jto make you ashamed, but to admonish you kas my beloved children. ¹⁵For lthough you have countless2 guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For mI became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ¹⁶I urge you, then, nbe imitators of me. ¹⁷That is why oI sent3 you Timothy, pmy beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,4 qas I teach them everywhere in every church. ¹⁸Some are rarrogant, sas though I were not coming to you. ¹⁹But tI will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. ²⁰For uthe kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. ²¹What do you wish? vShall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?