Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The One Year Bible TLB (19 page)
Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do! And with your wisdom, develop common sense and good judgment.
8-9
If you exalt wisdom, she will exalt you. Hold her fast, and she will lead you to great honor; she will place a beautiful crown upon your head.
10
My son, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life.
January 22When his brothers were ready to leave,
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Joseph ordered his household manager to fill each of their sacks with as much grain as they could carry—and to put into the mouth of each man’s sack the money he had paid!
2
He was also told to put Joseph’s own silver cup at the top of Benjamin’s sack, along with the grain money. So the household manager did as he was told.
3
The brothers were up at dawn and on their way with their loaded donkeys.
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But when they were barely out of the city, Joseph said to his household manager, “Chase after them and stop them and ask them why they are acting like this when their benefactor has been so kind to them?
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Ask them, ‘What do you mean by stealing my lord’s personal silver drinking cup, which he uses for fortune-telling? What a wicked thing you have done!’”
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So he caught up with them and spoke to them along the lines he had been instructed.
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“What in the world are you talking about?” they demanded. “What kind of people do you think we are, that you accuse us of such a terrible thing as that?
8
Didn’t we bring back the money we found in the mouth of our sacks? Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?
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If you find his cup with any one of us, let that one die. And all the rest of us will be slaves forever to your master.”
10
“Fair enough,” the man replied, “except that only the one who stole it will be a slave, and the rest of you can go free.”
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They quickly took down their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them.
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He began searching the oldest brother’s sack, going on down the line to the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s!
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They ripped their clothing in despair, loaded the donkeys again, and returned to the city.
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Joseph was still home when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground before him.
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“What were you trying to do?” Joseph demanded. “Didn’t you know such a man as I would know who stole it?”
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And Judah said, “Oh, what shall we say to my lord? How can we plead? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. Sir, we have all returned to be your slaves, both we and he in whose sack the cup was found.”
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“No,” Joseph said. “Only the man who stole the cup, he shall be my slave. The rest of you can go on home to your father.”
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Then Judah stepped forward and said, “O sir, let me say just this one word to you. Be patient with me for a moment, for I know you can doom me in an instant, as though you were Pharaoh himself.
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“Sir, you asked us if we had a father or a brother,
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and we said, ‘Yes, we have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one. And his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him very much.’
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And you said to us, ‘Bring him here so that I can see him.’
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But we said to you, ‘Sir, the lad cannot leave his father, for his father would die.’
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But you told us, ‘Don’t come back here unless your youngest brother is with you.’
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So we returned to our father and told him what you had said.
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And when he said, ‘Go back again and buy us a little food,’
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we replied, ‘We can’t, unless you let our youngest brother go with us. Only then may we come.’
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“Then my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife had two sons,
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and that one of them went away and never returned—doubtless torn to pieces by some wild animal; I have never seen him since.
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And if you take away his brother from me also, and any harm befalls him, I shall die with sorrow.’
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And now, sir, if I go back to my father and the lad is not with us—seeing that our father’s life is bound up in the lad’s life—
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when he sees that the boy is not with us, our father will die; and we will be responsible for bringing down his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
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Sir, I pledged my father that I would take care of the lad. I told him, ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, I shall bear the blame forever.’
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Please sir, let me stay here as a slave instead of the lad, and let the lad return with his brothers.
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For how shall I return to my father if the lad is not with me? I cannot bear to see what this would do to him.”
45:
1
Joseph could stand it no longer.
“Out, all of you,” he cried out to his attendants, and he was left alone with his brothers.
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Then he wept aloud. His sobs could be heard throughout the palace, and the news was quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.
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“I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers couldn’t say a word, they were so stunned with surprise.
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“Come over here,” he said. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt!
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But don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it! He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.
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These two years of famine will grow to seven, during which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
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God has sent me here to keep you and your families alive, so that you will become a great nation.
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Yes, it was God who sent me here, not you! And he has made me a counselor to Pharaoh, and manager of this entire nation, ruler of all the land of Egypt.
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“Hurry, return to my father and tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says, “God has made me chief of all the land of Egypt. Come down to me right away!
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You shall live in the land of Goshen so that you can be near me with all your children, your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have.
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I will take care of you there”’ (you men are witnesses of my promise, and my brother Benjamin has heard me say it) ‘“for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you will come to utter poverty along with all your household.”’
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Tell our father about all my power here in Egypt, and how everyone obeys me. And bring him to me quickly.”
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Then, weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin and Benjamin began weeping too.
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And he did the same with each of his brothers, who finally found their tongues!
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The news soon reached Pharaoh—“Joseph’s brothers have come”; and Pharaoh was very happy to hear it, as were his officials.
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Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their pack animals and return quickly to their homes in Canaan,
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and to bring your father and all of your families and come here to Egypt to live. Tell them, ‘Pharaoh will assign to you the very best territory in the land of Egypt. You shall live off the fat of the land!’
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And tell your brothers to take wagons from Egypt to carry their wives and little ones, and to bring your father here.
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Don’t worry about your property, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.”
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So Joseph gave them wagons, as Pharaoh had commanded, and provisions for the journey,
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and he gave each of them new clothes—but to Benjamin he gave five changes of clothes and three hundred pieces of silver!
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He sent his father ten donkey-loads of the good things of Egypt, and ten donkeys loaded with grain and all kinds of other food, to eat on his journey.
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So he sent his brothers off.
“Don’t quarrel along the way!” was his parting shot!
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And leaving, they returned to the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father.
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“Joseph is alive,” they shouted to him. “And he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” But Jacob’s heart was like a stone; he couldn’t take it in.
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But when they had given him Joseph’s messages, and when he saw the wagons filled with food that Joseph had sent him, his spirit revived.
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And he said, “It must be true! Joseph my son is alive! I will go and see him before I die.”
As soon as Jesus heard the news, he went off by himself in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds saw where he was headed and followed by land from many villages.
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So when Jesus came out of the wilderness, a vast crowd was waiting for him, and he pitied them and healed their sick.
15
That evening the disciples came to him and said, “It is already past time for supper, and there is nothing to eat here in the desert; send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy some food.”
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But Jesus replied,
“That isn’t necessary—you feed them!”
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“What!” they exclaimed. “We have exactly five small loaves of bread and two fish!”
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“Bring them here,”
he said.
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Then he told the people to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves and two fish, looked up into the sky, and asked God’s blessing on the meal, then broke the loaves apart and gave them to the disciples to place before the people.
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And everyone ate until full! And when the scraps were picked up afterwards, there were twelve basketfuls left over!
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(About five thousand men were in the crowd that day, besides all the women and children.)
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Immediately after this, Jesus told his disciples to get into their boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he stayed to get the people started home.
23-24
Then afterwards he went up into the hills to pray. Night fell, and out on the lake the disciples were in trouble. For the wind had risen and they were fighting heavy seas.
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About four o’clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on the water!
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They screamed in terror, for they thought he was a ghost.
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But Jesus immediately spoke to them, reassuring them.
“Don’t be afraid!”
he said.
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Then Peter called to him: “Sir, if it is really you, tell me to come over to you, walking on the water.”
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“All right,”
the Lord said,
“come along!”
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.
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But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
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Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and rescued him.
“O man of little faith,”
Jesus said.
“Why did you doubt me?”
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And when they had climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.
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The others sat there, awestruck. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.
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They landed at Gennesaret.
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The news of their arrival spread quickly throughout the city, and soon people were rushing around, telling everyone to bring in their sick to be healed.
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The sick begged him to let them touch even the tassel of his robe, and all who did were healed.
You have given me your salvation as my shield. Your right hand, O Lord, supports me; your gentleness has made me great.
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You have made wide steps beneath my feet so that I need never slip.
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I chased my enemies; I caught up with them and did not turn back until all were conquered.
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I pinned them to the ground; all were helpless before me. I placed my feet upon their necks.
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For you have armed me with strong armor for the battle. My enemies quail before me and fall defeated at my feet.
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You made them turn and run; I destroyed all who hated me.
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They shouted for help, but no one dared to rescue them; they cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer them.
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So I crushed them fine as dust and cast them to the wind. I threw them away like sweepings from the floor.
43-45
You gave me victory in every battle. The nations came and served me. Even those I didn’t know before come now and bow before me. Foreigners who have never seen me submit instantly. They come trembling from their strongholds.
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God is alive! Praise him who is the great rock of protection.
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He is the God who pays back those who harm me and subdues the nations before me.
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He rescues me from my enemies; he holds me safely out of their reach and saves me from these powerful opponents.
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For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations.
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Many times you have miraculously rescued me, the king you appointed. You have been loving and kind to me and will be to my descendants.