The Promise Study Edition Contemporary English Version

50  1  Joseph started crying, then leaned over to hug and kiss his father. 2  Joseph gave orders for Jacob’s body to be embalmed,  3  and it took the usual forty days. The Egyptians mourned seventy days for Jacob.  4  When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the Egyptian leaders, “If you consider me your friend, please speak to the king [ a ]  for me.  5  Just before my father died, he made me promise to bury him in his burial cave in Canaan. If the king will give me permission to go, I will come back here.” 6  The king answered, “Go to Canaan and keep your promise to your father.” 7-9  When Joseph left Goshen with his brothers, his relatives, and his father’s relatives to bury Jacob, many of the king’s highest officials and even his military chariots and cavalry went along. The Israelites left behind only their children, their cattle, and their sheep and goats. 10  After crossing the Jordan River and...

Jacob Blesses His Sons 49  Jacob called his sons together and said: My sons, I am Jacob,      your father Israel. 2  Come, gather around,      as I tell your future. 3  Reuben, you are my oldest, born at the peak of my powers;      you were an honored leader. 4  Uncontrollable as a flood, you slept with my wife      and disgraced my bed. And so you no longer deserve      the place of honor. 5  Simeon and Levi, you are brothers,      each a gruesome sword. 6  I never want to take part      in your plans or deeds. You slaughtered people      in your anger, and you crippled cattle      for no reason. 7  Now I place a curse on you because of      your fierce anger. Your descendants will be scattered    ...

A Famine in Egypt 13  The famine was bad everywhere in Egypt and Canaan, and the people were suffering terribly.  14  So Joseph sold them the grain that had been stored up, and he put the money [ a ]  in the king’s treasury.  15  But when everyone had run out of money, the Egyptians came to Joseph and demanded, “Give us more grain! If you don’t, we’ll soon be dead, because our money’s all gone.” 16  “If you don’t have any money,” Joseph answered, “give me your animals, and I’ll let you have some grain.”  17  From then on, they brought him their horses and donkeys and their sheep and goats in exchange for grain. Within a year Joseph had collected every animal in Egypt.  18  Then the people came to him and said: Sir, there’s no way we can hide the truth from you. We are broke, and we don’t have any more animals. We have nothing left except ourselves and our land.  19  Don’t let us starve and our land be ruined. If...

Jacob and His Family Go to Egypt 46  Jacob packed up everything he owned and left for Egypt. On the way he stopped near the town of Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God his father Isaac had worshiped.  2  That night, God spoke to him and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” Jacob answered. 3  God said, “I am God, the same God your father worshiped. Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt. I will give you so many descendants that one day they will become a nation.  4  I will go with you to Egypt, and later I will bring your descendants back here. Your son Joseph will be at your side when you die.” Genesis 46.1-4  The Promise Study Edition Contemporary English Version    $46.01 Short Life Lessons From The Book of Genesis

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Egypt with Benjamin 43  The famine in Canaan got worse,  2  until finally, Jacob’s family had eaten all the grain they had bought in Egypt. So Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy some more grain.” Genesis 43.1-2  The Promise Study Edition Contemporary English Version    $46.01 Short Life Lessons From The Book of Genesis

25  Joseph replied: Your Majesty, both of your dreams mean the same thing, and in them God has shown what he is going to do.  26  The seven good cows stand for seven years, and so do the seven good heads of grain.  27  The seven skinny, ugly cows that came up later also stand for seven years, as do the seven bad heads of grain that were scorched by the east wind. The dreams mean there will be seven years when there won’t be enough grain. 28  It is just as I said—God has shown what he intends to do.  29  For seven years Egypt will have more than enough grain,  30  but that will be followed by seven years when there won’t be enough. The good years of plenty will be forgotten, and everywhere in Egypt people will be starving.  31  The famine will be so bad that no one will remember that once there had been plenty.  32  God has given you two dreams to let you know that he has definitely decided to do this and that h...

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife 39  The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the king’s [ a ]  official in charge of the palace guard.  2-3  So Joseph lived in the home of Potiphar, his Egyptian owner. Soon Potiphar realized that the  Lord  was helping Joseph to be successful in whatever he did.  4  Potiphar liked Joseph and made him his personal assistant, putting him in charge of his house and all of his property.  5  Because of Joseph, the  Lord  began to bless Potiphar’s family and fields.  6  Potiphar left everything up to Joseph, and with Joseph there, the only decision he had to make was what he wanted to eat. Joseph was well-built and handsome,  7  and Potiphar’s wife soon noticed him. She asked him to make love to her,  8  but he refused and said, “My master isn’t worried about anything in his house, because he has placed me in charge of everything he owns.  9...

Jacob Gets Ready To Meet Esau 32  As Jacob was on his way back home, some of God’s angels came and met him.  2  When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” So he named the place Mahanaim. [ a ] 3  Jacob sent messengers on ahead to Esau, who lived in the land of Seir, also known as Edom.  4  Jacob told them to say to Esau, “Master, I am your servant! I have lived with Laban all this time,  5  and now I own cattle, donkeys, and sheep, as well as many slaves. Master, I am sending these messengers in the hope that you will be kind to me.” 6  When the messengers returned, they told Jacob, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is heading this way with four hundred men.” 7  Jacob was so frightened that he divided his people, sheep, cattle, and camels into two groups.  8  He thought, “If Esau attacks one group, perhaps the other can escape.” 9  Then Jacob prayed: You,  Lord , are the God who was wor...

Jacob Runs from Laban 31  Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, “Jacob is now a rich man, and he got everything he owns from our father.”  2  Jacob also noticed that Laban was not as friendly as he had been before.  3  One day the  Lord  said, “Jacob, go back to your relatives in the land of your ancestors, and I will bless you.” 4  Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where he kept his sheep,  5  and he told them: Your father isn’t as friendly with me as he used to be, but the God my ancestors worshiped has been on my side.  6  You know that I have worked hard for your father  7  and that he keeps cheating me by changing my wages time after time. But God has protected me.  8  When your father said the speckled sheep would be my wages, all of them were speckled. And when he said the spotted ones would be mine, all of them were spotted.  9  That’s how God has ta...

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel 10  Jacob left the town of Beersheba and started out for Haran.  11  At sunset he stopped for the night and went to sleep, resting his head on a large rock.  12  In a dream he saw a ladder [ d ]  that reached from earth to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. 13  The  Lord  was standing beside the ladder [ e ]  and said: I am the  Lord  God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping.  14  Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people. [ f ]   15  Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won’t leave you—I will do all I have promised. 16  Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, “The  Lord  is in this place, and I didn’t...

42  When Rebekah found out what Esau planned to do, she sent for Jacob and told him, “Son, your brother Esau is just waiting for the time when he can kill you.  43  Now listen carefully and do what I say. Go to the home of my brother Laban in Haran  44  and stay with him for a while. When Esau stops being angry  45  and forgets what you have done to him, I’ll send for you to come home. Why should I lose both of my sons on the same day?” Genesis 27.42-45  The Promise Study Edition Contemporary English Version    $46.01 Short Life Lessons From The Book of Genesis

Isaac and Abimelech 26  Once during Abraham’s lifetime, the fields had not produced enough grain, and now the same thing happened. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in the land of Gerar,  2  because the  Lord  had appeared to Isaac and said: Isaac, stay away from Egypt! I will show you where I want you to go.  3  You will live there as a foreigner, but I will be with you and bless you. I will keep my promise to your father Abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants. 4  I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth, [ a ]   5  because Abraham did everything I told him to do. 6  Isaac moved to Gerar  7  with his beautiful wife Rebekah. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her, and so he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister.  8  After Isaa...

24  Abraham was now a very old man. The  Lord  had made him rich, and he was successful in everything he did.  2  One day, Abraham called in his most trusted servant and said to him, “Solemnly promise me  3  in the name of the  Lord , who rules heaven and earth, that you won’t choose a wife for my son Isaac from the people here in the land of Canaan.  4  Instead, go back to the land where I was born and find a wife for him from among my relatives.” 5  But the servant asked, “What if the young woman I choose refuses to leave home and come here with me? Should I send Isaac there to look for a wife?” 6  “No!” Abraham answered. “Don’t ever do that, no matter what.  7  The  Lord  who rules heaven brought me here from the land where I was born and promised that he would give this land to my descendants forever. When you go back there, the  Lord  will send his angel ahead of you to help you find a ...