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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Malcom: Welcome To Immerse: The
Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 98
When Jacob heard that grain was available
in Egypt, he said to his sons, why are you
standing around looking at one another?
I have heard there is grain in Egypt.
Go down there and buy enough grain to
keep us alive, otherwise we'll die.
So Joseph's 10 older brothers went
down to Egypt to buy grain, but Jacob
wouldn't let Joseph's younger brother
Benjamin go with them for fear.
Some harm might come to him.
So Jacob's sons arrived in Egypt,
along with others to buy food for.
The famine was in Canaan as well.
Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt
and in charge of selling grain to all the
people, it was to him that his brothers
came when they arrived, they bowed before
him with their faces to the ground.
Joseph recognized his brothers
instantly, but he pretended to be a
stranger and spoke harshly to them.
Where are you from?
He demanded from the land of Canaan,
they replied, we have come to buy food.
Although Joseph recognized his
brothers, they didn't recognize him
and he remembered the dreams he'd
had about them many years before.
He said to them, you are spies.
You have come to see how
vulnerable our land has become.
No, my Lord, they exclaimed.
Your servants have
simply come to buy food.
We are all brothers
members of the same family.
We are honest men.
Sir, we are not spies.
Yes you are.
Joseph insisted you have come to see
how vulnerable our land has become.
Sir, they said there
are actually 12 of us.
We, your servants are all brothers.
Sons of a man living
in the land of Canaan.
Our youngest brother is back there
with our father right now and one of
our brothers is no longer with us.
But Joseph insisted, as
I said, you are spies.
This is how I will test your story.
I swear by the life of Pharaoh, that
you will never leave Egypt unless
your youngest brother comes here.
One of you must go and get your brother.
I'll keep the rest of you here in prison.
Then we'll find out whether or not your
story is true by the life of Pharaoh.
If it turns out that you
don't have a younger brother,
then I'll know you are spies.
So Joseph put them all
in prison for three days.
On the third day, Joseph said
to them, I'm a god-fearing man.
If you do, as I say, you will live.
If you really are honest, men, choose
one of your brothers to remain in prison.
The rest of you may go home with grain
for your starving families, but you must
bring your youngest brother back to me.
This will prove that you are telling
the truth and you will not die to this.
They agreed.
Speaking among themselves, they said
clearly we are being punished because
of what we did to Joseph Long ago.
We saw his anguish when he pleaded
for his life, but we wouldn't listen.
That's why we are in this trouble.
Didn't I tell you not
to sin against the boy?
Ruben asked, but you wouldn't listen,
and now we have to answer for his blood.
Of course, they didn't know that
Joseph understood them for he had been
speaking to them through an interpreter.
Now he turned away from
them and began to weep.
When he regained his composure,
he spoke to them again.
Then he chose Simeon from among them and
had him tied up right before their eyes.
Joseph then ordered his servants to fill
the men's sex with grain, but he also
gave secret instructions to return each
brother's payment at the top of his sack.
He also gave them supplies
for their journey home.
So the brothers loaded their donkeys
with the grain and headed for home.
But when they stopped for the night
and one of them opened his sack to
get grain for his donkey, he found
his money in the top of his sack.
Look, he exclaimed to his brothers.
My money has been returned.
It's here in my sack.
Then their heart sank, trembling.
They said to each other,
what has God done to us?
When the brothers came to their father,
Jacob, in the land of Canaan, they told
him everything that had happened to them.
The man who was governor of the
land spoke very harshly to us.
They told him he accused us of being
spies, scouting the land, but we
said we are honest men, not spies.
We are 12 brothers, sons of one
father, one brother is no longer with
us, and the youngest is at home with
our father in the land of Canaan.
Then the man who was governor of the land
told us, this is how I will find out.
If you are honest, men, leave one of your
brothers here with me and take grain for
your starving families and go on home.
But you must bring your
youngest brother back to me.
Then I will know you are
honest men and not spies.
Then I will give you back your brother,
and you may trade freely in the land
as they emptied out their sacks.
There in each man's sack was the bag
of money he had paid for the grain.
The brothers and their father were
terrified when they saw the bags of money.
Jacob exclaimed, you are
robbing me of my children.
Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone, and
now you want to take Benjamin too.
Everything is going against me.
Then Ruben said to his father,
you may kill my two sons.
If I don't bring Benjamin back to
you, I'll be responsible for him
and I promise to bring him back.
But Jacob replied, my son
will not go down with you.
His brother Joseph is dead
and he is all I have left.
If anything should happen to him on
your journey, you would send this
grieving white-haired man to his grave.
But the famine continued to
ravage the land of Canaan.
When the grain they had brought from Egypt
was almost gone, Jacob said to his sons,
go back and buy us a little more food.
But Judah said the man was
serious when he warned us.
You won't see my face again
unless your brother is with you.
If you send Benjamin with us, we
will go down and buy more food.
But if you don't let Benjamin
go, we won't go either.
Remember the man said you won't see my
face again unless my brother is with you?
Why were you so cruel to me?
Jacob Moaned.
Why did you tell him
you had another brother?
The man kept asking us
questions about our family.
They replied.
He asked, is your father still alive?
Do you have another brother?
So we answered his questions.
How could we know?
He would say, bring
your brother down here.
Judah said to his father, send the
boy with me and we will be on our way.
Otherwise, we will all die of starvation.
And not only we, but
you and our little ones.
I personally guarantee his safety.
You may hold me responsible.
If I don't bring him back to you,
then let me bear the blame forever.
If we hadn't wasted all of his time, we
could have gone and returned twice by now.
So their father, Jacob finally
said to them, if it can't be
avoided, then at least do this.
Pack your bags with the
best products of this land.
Take them down to the man as gifts
balm, honey, gum aromatic resin,
pistachio nuts, and almonds.
Also, take double the money that
was put back in your sacks as it
was probably someone's mistake.
Then take your brother
and go back to the man.
May God Almighty give you mercy as
you go before the man so that he will
release Simeon and let Benjamin return.
But if I must lose my children, so be it.
So the men packed Jacob's gifts and double
the money and headed off with Benjamin.
They finally arrived in Egypt and
presented themselves to Joseph.
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he
said to the manager of his household,
these men will eat with me this noon, take
them inside the palace, then go slaughter
an animal and prepare a big feast.
So the man did, as Joseph told him
and took them into Joseph's palace.
The brothers were terrified
when they saw that they were
being taken into Joseph's house.
It's because of the money Someone put in
our sacks last time we were here, they
said he plans to pretend that we stole it.
Then he will seize us, make us
slaves, and take our donkeys.
The brothers approached the manager
of Joseph's household and spoke to
him at the entrance to the palace.
Sir, they said we came to
Egypt once before to buy food.
But as we were returning home, we stopped
for the night and opened our sacks.
Then we discovered that each
man's money, the exact amount
paid, was in the top of his sack.
Here it is.
We have brought it back with us.
We also have additional
money to buy more food.
We have no idea who put
our money in our sacks.
Relax, don't be afraid.
The household manager told them, your
God, the God of your father must have
put this treasure into your sacks.
I know I received your payment.
Then he released Simeon and
brought him out to them.
The manager then led the
man into Joseph's palace.
He gave them water to wash their feet
and provided food for their donkeys.
They were told they would be eating
there, so they prepared their
gifts for Joseph's arrival at noon.
When Joseph came home, they gave him
the gifts they had brought him and then
bowed low to the ground before him.
After greeting them, he asked, how
is your father, the old man you
spoke about, is he still alive?
Yes.
They replied, our father, your servant is
alive and well, and they bowed low again.
Then Joseph looked at his brother
Benjamin, the son of his own mother.
Is this your youngest brother?
The one you told me about?
Joseph asked, may God be
gracious to you, my son.
Then Joseph hurried from the
room because he was overcome
with a motion for his brother.
He went into his private room
where he broke down and wept.
After washing his face, he came back
out, keeping himself under control.
Then he ordered bring out the food.
The waiter served Joseph at his
own table and his brothers were
served at a separate table.
The Egyptians who ate with Joseph sat at
their own table because Egyptians despise
Hebrews and refused to eat with them.
Joseph told each of his brothers where
to sit, and to their amazement, he
seated them according to age, from
oldest to youngest, and Joseph filled
their plates with food from his own
table, giving Benjamin five times as
much as he gave the others, so they
feasted and drank freely with him.
This concludes today's
Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.