Study Desk

When the people of Egypt and Canaan ran out of money, all the Egyptians came to Joseph. "Our money is gone!" they cried. "But please give us food, or we will die before your very eyes!"

But that year ended, and the next year they came again and said, "We cannot hide the truth from you, my lord. Our money is gone, and all our livestock and cattle are yours. We have nothing left to give but our bodies and our land.

But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh.

Then Jacob said to Joseph, "I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!"

But Jacob crossed his arms as he reached out to lay his hands on the boys' heads. He put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger boy, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, though he was the firstborn.

But Joseph was upset when he saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim's head. So Joseph lifted it to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

But his father refused. "I know, my son; I know," he replied. "Manasseh will also become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater. And his descendants will become a multitude of nations."

Then Jacob said to Joseph, "Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors.

But you are as unruly as a flood, and you will be first no longer. For you went to bed with my wife; you defiled my marriage couch.

"Gad will be attacked by marauding bands, but he will attack them when they retreat.

But his bow remained taut, and his arms were strengthened by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.

Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.

But now that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers became fearful. "Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him," they said.

But Joseph replied, "Don't be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you?

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

"Soon I will die," Joseph told his brothers, "but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."

But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land.

But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became.

But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king's orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.

Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live."