Study Desk

"Zebulun will live near the sea. His shore will be a safe place for ships, and his land will reach as far as Sidon.

" Lord , I wait for your salvation.

"Asher's land will grow much good food; he will grow food fit for a king.

These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them. He gave each son the blessing that was right for him.

That cave is in the field of Machpelah east of Mamre in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought the field and cave from Ephron the Hittite for a burying place.

It took the doctors forty days to prepare his body (the usual time it took). And the Egyptians had a time of sorrow for Jacob that lasted seventy days.

‘When my father was near death, I made a promise to him that I would bury him in a cave in the land of Canaan, in a burial place that he cut out for himself. So please let me go and bury my father, and then I will return.'"

When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they cried loudly and bitterly for his father. Joseph's time of sorrow continued for seven days.

Joseph died when he was one hundred ten years old. Doctors prepared his body for burial, and then they put him in a coffin in Egypt.

This king said to his people, "Look! The people of Israel are too many and too strong for us to handle!

So the Egyptians made life hard for the Israelites. They put slave masters over them, who forced the Israelites to build the cities Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.

Then the king of Egypt sent for the nurses and said, "Why did you do this? Why did you let the boys live?"

She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw how wonderful the baby was, she hid him for three months.

The king's daughter opened the basket and saw the baby boy. He was crying, so she felt sorry for him and said, "This is one of the Hebrew babies."

Then the baby's sister asked the king's daughter, "Would you like me to go and find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?"

The king's daughter said to the woman, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took her baby and nursed him.

There was a priest in Midian who had seven daughters. His daughters went to that well to get water to fill the water troughs for their father's flock.

The girls answered, "The shepherds chased us away, but an Egyptian defended us. He got water for us and watered our flock."

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned, because they were forced to work very hard. When they cried for help, God heard them.

I have heard the cries of the people of Israel, and I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard for them.