The Daily Audio Bible

44 Joseph commanded the manager of his house, “Fill the men’s bags with food, as much as they can carry. Put each man’s money into the mouth of his bag. ² Put my cup, the silver cup, into the mouth of the bag of the youngest, along with his money for the grain.” The manager did exactly what Joseph told him to do.

³ As soon as it became light in the morning, the men were sent on their way, with their donkeys. ⁴ When they had left the city and still were not very far away, Joseph said to his manager, “Get up. Pursue those men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? ⁵ Isn’t this the cup that my lord drinks from and that he uses for divination? By doing this you have done evil.’” ⁶ The steward caught up to them and spoke those words to them.

⁷ They replied to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Your servants would never do such a thing! ⁸ That money, which we found in the mouths of our bags—we brought it back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house? ⁹ If your cup is found with any of your servants, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰ He said, “Fine, it will be just as you have said. If it is found with anyone, he will be my slave, and the rest of you will be blameless.”

¹¹ Then each man quickly lowered his bag to the ground, and each man opened his bag. ¹² The manager searched, beginning with the oldest and finishing with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag. ¹³ Then they tore their clothing, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell to the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? Didn’t you know that a man like me can discover things by divination?”

¹⁶ Judah said, “What can we tell my lord? What can we say? How can we clear ourselves? God has exposed the guilt of your servants. Here we are. We are my lord’s slaves, both we and the one in whose hand the cup was found.”

¹⁷ Joseph said, “I would never do that. The man in whose hand the cup was found will be my slave, but as for the rest of you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah approached him and said, “O my lord, please let your servant speak to my lord directly. Do not let your anger burn against your servant, because you are just like Pharaoh. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ We said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child from his old age, a young one. His brother is dead, and he alone is left from his mother, and his father loves him.’ ²¹ You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I may see him with my own eyes.’ ²² We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he were to leave his father, his father would die.’ ²³ You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will never see my face again.’ ²⁴ And so it was that when we came to your servant, my father, we told him about the words of my lord. ²⁵ Our father said, ‘Go again. Buy us a little food.’ ²⁶ We said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, we will go down, because we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷ Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave birth to two sons for me. ²⁸ The one has departed from me and I said, “I am sure he is torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since. ²⁹ If you take this one away from me as well, and mishap comes upon him, you will bring my gray hairs down to the grave with sorrow.’ ³⁰ So now when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, since my father’s life is bound up in the boy’s life, ³¹ when he sees that the boy is no more, he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, to the grave with sorrow. ³² For your servant became a guarantee for the boy to my father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him to you, then I will bear the blame before my father forever.’ ³³ So please let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? How could I stand to see the evil that will come on my father?”

45 Joseph was unable to control himself in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone out from my presence!” When no one else was left with him, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. ² He wept out loud. The Egyptians heard him, and the house of Pharaoh heard about it. ³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?”

His brothers could not answer him, because they were terrified by his presence. ⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me, please.”

They came closer. He said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ Now do not be upset or angry with yourselves for selling me to this place, since God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. ⁶ For two years now the famine has been in the land, and there are still five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷ God sent me ahead of you to preserve you as survivors on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great act of deliverance. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord over his entire household, and ruler over the whole land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry, go up to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Do not delay. ¹⁰ You shall live in the land of Goshen, where you will be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹ I will take care of you here, for there are still five years of famine. Otherwise you will come to ruin, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’ ¹² Pay attention. Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³ You shall tell my father all about my position of honor in Egypt and about everything that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”

¹⁴ He threw his arms around his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. ¹⁵ He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ This report was heard in Pharaoh’s house: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” This pleased Pharaoh and his officials.

¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Load your animals. Travel quickly to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Get your father and your households, and return to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the rich food of the land. ¹⁹ Now I command you to do this: Take carts^[a] from the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives, and bring your father here. ²⁰ Also, do not worry about your belongings, for the best of the whole land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ So that is what the sons of Israel did. Joseph gave them carts as Pharaoh had commanded, and he gave them supplies for the journey. ²² He gave each one of them a change of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. ²³ He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and supplies for his father on the journey. ²⁴ So he dismissed his brothers, and they departed. He said to them, “See to it that you do not quarrel on the way.”

²⁵ They went up from Egypt and came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He was stunned^[b] because he did not believe them. ²⁷ They told Jacob every word that Joseph had said to them. When he saw the carts that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

²⁸ Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Jesus Feeds More Than Five Thousand

¹³ When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns.

¹⁴ When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ When evening came, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away, so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ They told him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he replied. ¹⁹ Then he instructed the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish. After looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. The disciples gave the food to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were filled. They picked up twelve basketfuls of what was left over from the broken pieces. ²¹ Those who ate were about five thousand men, not even counting women and children.

Jesus Walks on Water

²² Immediately Jesus urged the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed the crowd, he went up onto the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. ²⁴ By then the boat was quite a distance from shore, being pounded by the waves because the wind was against it. ²⁵ In the fourth watch of the night,^[a] Jesus came toward them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out in fear, “It’s a ghost!” ²⁷ But Jesus spoke to them at once, saying, “Take heart! It is I! Do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “Come!”

Peter stepped down from the boat, walked on the water, and went toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid. As he began to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ Those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!”

³⁴ When they had crossed over, they came to the shore at Gennesaret. ³⁵ When the men of that place recognized him, they sent word into all the surrounding region. They brought to him all who were sick ³⁶ and begged that they might just touch the fringe of his garment. All who touched it were completely cured.

David’s Victories

Closing Words of Faith