The Daily Audio Bible

Jacob blesses Joseph's sons

48 After some time, someone told Joseph, ‘Your father is ill.’ So Joseph went to see Jacob and he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with him. ² Someone told Jacob, ‘Your son Joseph has come to see you.’ Jacob's body became stronger and he sat up on the bed. ³ Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God Almighty appeared to me at Luz, in Canaan. God blessed me there. ⁴ He said to me, “I will give you many children, so that your descendants are many. In that way, you will become the ancestor of many nations. I will give this land to you so that it belongs to your descendants for ever.” ’

⁵ Jacob continued to say to Joseph, ‘You have two sons that were born to you in Egypt before I came here. They will become my own sons. Ephraim and Manasseh will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are my sons.^{[a] 6} Any children born to you after them will be your own children. They will receive part of the land that belongs to their brothers, Ephraim and Manasseh.

⁷ As for me, I was very sad when your mother Rachel died on our journey from Paddan. She died near to Ephrath. So I buried her there, next to the road to Ephrath (that is now called Bethlehem).’

⁸ Joseph brought Ephraim and Manasseh to his father, Jacob. Jacob asked him, ‘Who are these boys?’ ⁹ Joseph replied, ‘They are the sons that God has given to me here in Egypt.’ Then Israel said, ‘Bring them near to me so that I can bless them.’

¹⁰ Jacob's eyes had become weak because he was very old. He was almost blind. So Joseph brought his sons near to his father. His father kissed them and he hugged them. ¹¹ Jacob said to Joseph, ‘I never thought that I would see you again. But now God has let me see your children too.’

¹² Then Joseph removed his sons from Jacob's knees. He bent down low, with his face towards the ground. ¹³ He took his two sons near to Jacob. With his right hand, he put Ephraim beside Jacob's left hand. With his left hand, he put Manasseh beside Jacob's right hand.^[b]

¹⁴ Jacob then put out his right hand. But he put it on Ephraim's head, even though Ephraim was the younger son. Jacob crossed his arms so that he put his left hand on Manasseh's head. Manasseh was Joseph's firstborn son.

¹⁵ Then Jacob blessed Joseph. He said,

¹⁷ Joseph saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim's head. This made Joseph upset. So he took hold of his father's right hand. He moved it from Ephraim's head on to Manasseh's head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to Jacob, ‘No, my father. This boy is the firstborn son. Put your right hand on his head.’

¹⁹ But Jacob refused to change. He said, ‘I know, my son. I know what I am doing. Manasseh will also have many descendants who become a great nation. But his younger brother, Ephraim, will become even greater. Ephraim's descendants will become many great nations.’

²⁰ So Jacob blessed both of Joseph's sons that day. He said, ‘In your name Israel's people will give this blessing:

In this way, Jacob put Ephraim before Manasseh when he blessed them.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Joseph, ‘I will die soon. But God will be with you. He will take you back to the land where your ancestors lived. ²² I give to you more than I give to your brothers. I give to you the good part of the land that I took from the Amorites.^[e] I fought against them with my weapons to take that land.’

Jacob blesses his sons

49 Then Jacob called for all his sons. He said, ‘Come here to me. Then I can tell you what will happen to you, in future years. ² You sons of Jacob, come together now and listen to your father, Israel.’^[f]

Reuben

³ Jacob said, ‘Reuben you are my firstborn son. You were born first, when I was a strong young man. Of all my sons, you are the most famous and the strongest.

⁴ Yet you are as wild as the sea. You had sex with your father's slave wife. This bad thing brought me shame. So you will not become great.^[g]

Simeon and Levi

⁵ Simeon and Levi are brothers. They use their swords as weapons to destroy people.^[h]

⁶ I will not join them when they decide to do bad things. I will not meet with them. They have killed people when they are angry. They have hurt animals because it makes them happy.

⁷ Their anger is so strong that God will curse them. Their anger makes them do cruel things. So God will curse them. I will make your descendants separate from one another. They will live all over the country of Israel.

Judah

⁸ Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will win against your enemies. Your father's sons will bend down towards the ground in front of you.

⁹ Judah is like a young lion who has eaten good food. He has eaten what he killed and now he rests. Nobody would want to try and wake him up!

¹⁰ Judah's descendants will always rule as king. They will continue to hold the stick and the sceptre that show the king's authority. They will do that until the man comes who truly has that authority. People from all nations will obey that king.^[i]

¹¹ Judah will tie his young donkey to a vine. It will be a vine that has the best grapes. He will wash his clothes in the red wine that is made from those grapes.^[j]

¹² His eyes will become red because he drinks so much wine. His teeth will become white because he drinks so much milk.^[k]

Zebulun

¹³ Zebulun will live by the shore of the sea. His town will be a safe place for ships to stay. His land will go as far as Sidon.

Issachar

¹⁴ Issachar is like a strong donkey that is lying down between two of its bags.

¹⁵ He will see that he has a good place to live, with good land. Then he will agree to work hard. He will work like a slave for other people.^[l]

Dan

¹⁶ Dan will be a ruler for his people. His descendants will be equal with the other tribes of Israel.^[m]

¹⁷ He will be small and dangerous, like a snake that lies beside the road. He will be like a snake that bites the legs of horses so that the riders fall off.

¹⁸ I trust you to save me from trouble, Lord.^[n]

Gad

¹⁹ Robbers will attack Gad, but he will fight back against them.

Asher

²⁰ Asher will have much good food. It will be good enough for kings to eat.

Naphtali

²¹ Naphtali is like a deer that runs freely and gives birth to beautiful babies.

Joseph

²² Joseph is like a vine that has lots of fruit. It grows near a well and its branches go over a wall.^[o]

²³ His enemies will be angry with him. They will attack him with arrows. ²⁴ But he will hold his own bow strongly. He will shoot his arrows well. The Mighty One of Jacob will give Joseph strength. God, who is Israel's Shepherd and Rock, will help him.^[p]

²⁵ The Almighty God, the God of your father, will help you and he will bless you. He will give you rain that comes from the sky above. He will give you springs of water from below the ground. He will cause you to have many descendants. That is how God will bless you.

²⁶ The blessings that I, your father, give to you are great! They are greater than any good things that the old mountains or hills can give to you. They are special blessings for you, Joseph, because you are the leader of your brothers.

Benjamin

²⁷ Benjamin is like a hungry wolf. He kills an animal and eats it in the morning. In the evening, he gives what remains to his people.’^[q]

²⁸ All these are ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He told each of his sons what was right for them and their descendants.^[r]

Jacob dies and Joseph buries him

²⁹ Then Jacob said to his 12 sons, ‘I will soon die. You must take my dead body back to Canaan. Bury me there with my ancestors. Bury me in the cave in the field that belonged to Ephron the Hittite. ³⁰ The cave is at Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan. Abraham bought this cave from Ephron as a place to bury his family. ³¹ That is where they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah. They also buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah there. I buried Leah there too. ³² Abraham bought the cave and the field from the Hittites.’

³³ Jacob finished telling his sons what they should do. Then he lay down on his bed again. He breathed for the last time and he died there.

²⁹ Jesus travelled on from that place and he walked along the shore of Lake Galilee. He climbed up a hill and he sat down there. ³⁰ Large crowds of people came to him and they brought sick people with them. Some of these sick people could not walk very well, and some of them were blind. Some of them could not use their arms or their legs. Some of them could not speak. There were many other sick people who had different illnesses. Their friends put the sick people in front of Jesus. And Jesus caused them all to become well again. ³¹ When the large crowd saw all this, they were very surprised. People who could not speak could now speak again. People who could not use their arms or their legs were now well again. Those people who could not walk very well could now walk again. Blind people could now see again. All the people praised God, and they said, ‘God of Israel, you are great.’

Jesus feeds 4,000 men and their families

³² Then Jesus told his disciples to come to him. ‘I feel sorry for this crowd,’ he said to them. ‘They have been here with me now for three days. They do not have any food. I do not want to send them away while they are hungry. They might fall down during their journey because they are weak.’

³³ The disciples said to Jesus, ‘This place is a long way from any houses. We cannot get enough bread here to feed so many people.’

³⁴ Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves of bread do you have?’

They replied, ‘We have seven loaves and a few small fish.’

³⁵ Jesus told the crowd that they should sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish in his hands and he thanked God for them. Then he broke the bread and the fish into pieces and he gave the food to his disciples. The disciples gave the food to the people. ³⁷ All the people ate and they all had enough food. After the people had eaten, there were still lots of small pieces of food. Jesus' disciples filled seven baskets with these pieces. ³⁸ There were 4,000 men who ate the bread and fish. There were also women and children who ate. ³⁹ Then Jesus sent the crowd of people away. After that, he got into the boat and sailed to the part of the country near Magadan.^[a]

The Pharisees ask again to see a miracle

16 Some Pharisees and Sadducees went to see Jesus. They wanted to test him to see what he would do. They asked him, ‘Do something powerful for us to see. Then we will believe that God has sent you.’

² Jesus answered them, ‘Sometimes the sky is red in the evening. Then you say, “Tomorrow the weather will be good.” ³ Sometimes in the morning the sky is red and there are dark clouds. Then you say, “Today there will be a storm.” So you look at the sky and you know what the weather will be. But special things are happening now. And you do not understand what they mean. ⁴ The people who are alive today are very bad. They do not obey God. They want God to show them something powerful. But God will not do this for them. They will only see the same powerful thing that God did for Jonah.’

Then Jesus went away and left them.

Jesus talks about the Pharisees and the Sadducees

⁵ Jesus and his disciples sailed over to the other side of the lake. His disciples forgot to take any bread with them. ⁶ Jesus said to them, ‘Be careful! Do not accept the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.’

⁷ The disciples began to talk to each other about this. ‘Jesus is saying this because we did not bring any bread with us,’ they said.

⁸ Jesus knew what they were talking about. So he said to them, ‘You should not be arguing with each other about the bread. You should trust me more than you do. ⁹ You still do not understand. You should remember that I used five loaves of bread to feed 5,000 men. Think about how many baskets you filled with pieces of food after the meal. ¹⁰ Also remember that I used seven loaves of bread to give food to 4,000 men. And think about how many baskets you filled with pieces of food then. ¹¹ I spoke to you about the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. I said that you must not accept it. You should understand now that I was not speaking about bread.’

¹² Then the disciples understood what Jesus was talking about. They did not need to be careful about the yeast that they used in their bread. Instead, they must be careful about what the Pharisees and Sadducees were teaching. They must not accept it.^[b]

This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.

We trust God to help us^[a]

²⁰ My child, listen carefully to my teaching and to everything that I tell you. ²¹ Never forget my words. Keep them safe in your mind. ²² They will give true life to anyone who takes hold of them. They will give health to your whole body.

²³ Be very careful to keep your mind safe. The thoughts that you think make you the person that you are.

²⁴ Never tell lies or try to deceive other people.

²⁵ Look straight in front of you to see clearly where you are going. ²⁶ Decide carefully where you are going in life. Then you will be on a good, safe path. ²⁷ Do not walk off your path, to the right side or the left side. Keep away from everything that is evil.