Study Desk

So Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that one-fifth of the harvest should belong to the king. This law still remains in force today. Only the lands of the priests did not become the king's property.

Some time later Joseph was told that his father was ill. So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see Jacob.

He said to me, ‘I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession forever.'"

Joseph answered, "These are my sons, whom God has given me here in Egypt." Jacob said, "Bring them to me so that I may bless them."

Joseph was upset when he saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim's head; so he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to the head of Manasseh.

So he blessed them that day, saying, "The Israelites will use your names when they pronounce blessings. They will say, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'" In this way Jacob put Ephraim before Manasseh.

A curse be on their anger, because it is so fierce, And on their fury, because it is so cruel. I will scatter them throughout the land of Israel. I will disperse them among its people.

But he sees that the resting place is good And that the land is delightful. So he bends his back to carry the load And is forced to work as a slave.

Dan will be a snake at the side of the road, A poisonous snake beside the path, That strikes at the horse's heel, So that the rider is thrown off backward.

‘When my father was about to die, he made me promise him that I would bury him in the tomb which he had prepared in the land of Canaan. So please let me go and bury my father, and then I will come back.'"

So Joseph went to bury his father. All the king's officials, the senior men of his court, and all the leading men of Egypt went with Joseph.

So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them;

So they sent a message to Joseph: "Before our father died,

You have nothing to fear. I will take care of you and your children." So he reassured them with kind words that touched their hearts.

So Joseph died in Egypt at the age of a hundred and ten. They embalmed his body and put it in a coffin.

but their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and became so numerous and strong that Egypt was filled with them.

He said to his people, "These Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us.

So the Egyptians put slave drivers over them to crush their spirits with hard labor. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses to serve as supply centers for the king.

But the midwives were God-fearing and so did not obey the king; instead, they let the boys live.

So the king sent for the midwives and asked them, "Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the boys live?"