The One Year Bible TLB (21 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
Don’t do as the wicked do.
15
Avoid their haunts—turn away, go somewhere else,
16
for evil men can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day. They can’t rest unless they cause someone to stumble and fall.
17
They eat and drink wickedness and violence!
18
But the good man walks along in the ever-brightening light of God’s favor; the dawn gives way to morning splendor,
19
while the evil man gropes and stumbles in the dark.
January 24One day not long after this, word came to Joseph that his father was failing rapidly. So, taking with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, he went to visit him.
2
When Jacob heard that Joseph had arrived, he gathered his strength and sat up in the bed to greet him,
3
and said to him,
“God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
4
and said to me, ‘I will make you a great nation and I will give this land of Canaan to you and to your children’s children, for an everlasting possession.’
5
And now, as to these two sons of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived, I am adopting them as my own, and they will inherit from me just as Reuben and Simeon will.
6
But any other children born to you shall be your own, and shall inherit Ephraim’s and Manasseh’s portion from you.
7
For your mother, Rachel, died after only two children
*
when I came from Paddan-aram, as we were just a short distance from Ephrath, and I buried her beside the road to Bethlehem.”
8
Then Israel looked over at the two boys. “Are these the ones?” he asked.
9
“Yes,” Joseph told him, “these are my sons whom God has given me here in Egypt.”
And Israel said, “Bring them over to me and I will bless them.”
10
Israel was half blind with age, so that he could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him and he kissed and embraced them.
11
And Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought that I would see you again, but now God has let me see your children too.”
12-13
Joseph took the boys by the hand, bowed deeply to him, and led the boys to their grandfather’s knees—Ephraim at Israel’s left hand and Manasseh at his right.
14
But Israel crossed his arms as he stretched them out to lay his hands upon the boys’ heads, so that his right hand was upon the head of Ephraim, the younger boy, and his left hand was upon the head of Manasseh, the older. He did this purposely.
15
Then he blessed Joseph with this blessing: “May God, the God of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, the God who has shepherded me all my life, wonderfully bless these boys.
16
He is the Angel who has kept me from all harm. May these boys be an honor to my name and to the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they become a mighty nation.”
17
But Joseph was upset and displeased when he saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head; so he lifted it to place it on Manasseh’s head instead.
18
“No, Father,” he said. “You’ve got your right hand on the wrong head! This one over here is the older. Put your right hand on him!”
19
But his father refused. “I know what I’m doing, my son,” he said. “Manasseh too shall become a great nation, but his younger brother shall become even greater.”
20
So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “May the people of Israel bless each other by saying, ‘God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” (Note that he put Ephraim before Manasseh.)
21
Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to Canaan, the land of your fathers.
22
And I have given the choice land of Shekem to you instead of to your brothers, as your portion of that land which I took from the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
49:
1
Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me and I will tell you what is going to happen to you in the days to come.
2
Listen to me, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel your father.
3
“Reuben, you are my oldest son, the child of my vigorous youth. You are the head of the list in rank and in honor.
4
But you are unruly as the wild waves of the sea, and you shall be first no longer. I am demoting you, for you slept with one of my wives and thus dishonored me.
5
“Simeon and Levi are two of a kind. They are men of violence and injustice.
6
O my soul, stay away from them. May I never be a party to their wicked plans. For in their anger they murdered a man, and maimed oxen just for fun.
7
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce and cruel. Therefore, I will scatter their descendants throughout Israel.
*
8
“Judah, your brothers shall praise you. You shall destroy your enemies. Your father’s sons shall bow before you.
9
Judah is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. He has settled down as a lion—who will dare to rouse him?
10
The scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes,
*
whom all people shall obey.
11
He has chained his steed to the choicest vine and washed his clothes in wine.
*
12
His eyes are darker than wine and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13
“Zebulun shall dwell on the shores of the sea and shall be a harbor for ships, with his borders extending to Sidon.
14
“Issachar is a strong beast of burden resting among the saddlebags.
15
When he saw how good the countryside was, how pleasant the land, he willingly bent his shoulder to the task and served his masters with vigor.
16
“Dan shall govern his people like any other tribe in Israel.
17
He shall be a serpent in the path that bites the horses’ heels, so that the rider falls off.
18
I trust in your salvation, Lord.
19
“A marauding band shall stamp upon Gad, but he shall rob and pursue them!
20
“Asher shall produce rich foods, fit for kings!
21
“Naphtali is a deer let loose, producing lovely fawns.
22
“Joseph is a fruitful tree beside a fountain. His branches shade the wall.
23
He has been severely injured by those who shot at him and persecuted him,
24
but their weapons were shattered by the Mighty One of Jacob, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
25
May the God of your fathers, the Almighty, bless you with blessings of heaven above and of the earth beneath—blessings of the breasts and of the womb,
26
blessings of the grain and flowers, blessings reaching to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills. These shall be the blessings upon the head of Joseph who was exiled from his brothers.
27
“Benjamin is a wolf that prowls. He devours his enemies in the morning, and in the evening divides the loot.”
28
So these are the blessings that Israel, their father, blessed his twelve sons with.
29-30
Then he told them, “Soon I will die. You must bury me with my fathers in the land of Canaan, in the cave in the field of Mach-pelah, facing Mamre—the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hethite for a burial ground.
31
There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife; and there I buried Leah.
32
It is the cave which my grandfather Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth.”
33
Then, when Jacob had finished his prophecies to his sons, he lay back in the bed, breathed his last, and died.
Jesus now returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat there.
30
And a vast crowd brought him their lame, blind, maimed, and those who couldn’t speak, and many others, and laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.
31
What a spectacle it was! Those who hadn’t been able to say a word before were talking excitedly, and those with missing arms and legs had new ones; the crippled were walking and jumping around, and those who had been blind were gazing about them! The crowds just marveled and praised the God of Israel.
32
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said,
“I pity these people—they’ve been here with me for three days now and have nothing left to eat; I don’t want to send them away hungry or they will faint along the road.”
33
The disciples replied, “And where would we get enough here in the desert for all this mob to eat?”
34
Jesus asked them,
“How much food do you have?”
And they replied, “Seven loaves of bread and a few small fish!”
35
Then Jesus told all of the people to sit down on the ground,
36
and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and gave thanks to God for them, and divided them into pieces, and gave them to the disciples who presented them to the crowd.
37-38
And everyone ate until full—four thousand men besides the women and children! And afterwards, when the scraps were picked up, there were seven basketfuls left over!
39
Then Jesus sent the people home and got into the boat and crossed to Magadan.
16:
1
One day the Pharisees and Sadducees
*
came to test Jesus’ claim of being the Messiah by asking him to show them some great demonstrations in the skies.
2-3
He replied,
“You are good at reading the weather signs of the skies—red sky tonight means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day—but you can’t read the obvious signs of the times!
4
This evil, unbelieving nation is asking for some strange sign in the heavens, but no further proof will be given except the miracle that happened to Jonah.”
Then Jesus walked out on them.
5
Arriving across the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any food.
6
“Watch out!”
Jesus warned them.
“Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7
They thought he was saying this because they had forgotten to bring bread.
8
Jesus knew what they were thinking and told them,
“O men of little faith! Why are you so worried about having no food?
9
Won’t you ever understand? Don’t you remember at all the five thousand I fed with five loaves, and the basketfuls left over?
10
Don’t you remember the four thousand I fed, and all that was left?
11
How could you even think I was talking about food? But again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”
12
Then at last they understood that by
yeast
he meant the
wrong teaching
of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
In your day of trouble, may the Lord be with you! May the God of Jacob keep you from all harm.
2
May he send you aid from his sanctuary in Zion.
3
May he remember with pleasure the gifts you have given him, your sacrifices and burnt offerings.
4
May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.
5
May there be shouts of joy when we hear the news of your victory, flags flying with praise to God for all that he has done for you. May he answer all your prayers!
6
“God save the king”—I know he does! He hears me from highest heaven and sends great victories.
7
Some nations boast of armies and of weaponry, but our boast is in the Lord our God.
8
Those nations will collapse and perish; we will arise to stand firm and sure!
9
Give victory to our king, O Lord; oh, hear our prayer.
Listen, son of mine, to what I say. Listen carefully.
21
Keep these thoughts ever in mind; let them penetrate deep within your heart,
22
for they will mean real life for you and radiant health.
23
Above all else, guard your affections.
For they influence everything else in your life.
24
Spurn the careless kiss of a prostitute.
*
Stay far from her.
25
Look straight ahead; don’t even turn your head to look.
26
Watch your step. Stick to the path and be safe.
27
Don’t sidetrack; pull back your foot from danger.