Today's Readings and Stuff -- Wednesday, 20 January 2016

another very cold, very nasty day.  Just grey and cold and depressing outside, and not much better inside.  Dear Wife went with me on the monthly trek yesterday, about her first foray outside in the last month other than a couple across-the-backyard trips to niece's house to "watch" grand-niece.  And she overdid it, so is paying for it today.  She did get the cell phone people to look at her phone, looks as if the root of the problem is that she has it overloaded with apps, about 95% of storage taken up.  She spends most of the day after rising, lying in a recliner, much of it playing some games on the smartphone.  Cheap, and occupies time and takes her mind off of the awful pain she is in most of the time.  So some rearrangement (onto SD card) and paring down of the apps is appearing to be the correct approach.
Such is our life these days.  She's got enough strength to walk to/from the bathroom herself, but other than that, I'm pretty much doing it all.  Fair enough.

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 46, 47, 48 of the Genesis.  The meeting, after so many years, of Joseph and Israel.  Had to be very emotional.  After being away from this area for 20-some years, and other issues before that, I have been, slowly, reconnecting with friends and family not seen in   25, 30, 40 years.  Sometimes more.  So, perhaps, I know at a visceral level a small amount of the emotions involved.

Genesis 46

1	And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
2	And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
3	And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
4	I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
5	And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6	And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
7	His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
8	And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.
9	And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
10	And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
11	And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12	And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
13	And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
14	And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
15	These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.
16	And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
17	And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
18	These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
19	The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
20	And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
21	And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
22	These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
23	And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
24	And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
25	These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.
26	All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six;
27	And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
28	And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
29	And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
30	And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
31	And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
32	And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
33	And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
34	That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

Genesis 47

1	Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
2	And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
3	And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
4	They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.
5	And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
6	The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
7	And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8	And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
9	And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
10	And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11	And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12	And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families.
13	And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
14	And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
15	And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
16	And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
17	And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
18	When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
19	Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
20	And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.
21	And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
22	Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.
23	Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
24	And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
25	And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
26	And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.
27	And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
28	And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.
29	And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
30	But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
31	And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.

Genesis 48  Back to Top

1	And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2	And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3	And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4	And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
5	And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6	And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
7	And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.
8	And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?
9	And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
10	Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11	And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed.
12	And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13	And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.
14	And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15	And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
16	The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17	And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
18	And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19	And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
20	And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21	And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22	Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

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The New Testament reading is verses 22-36 of Matthew 14

Matthew 14:22-36

22	And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23	And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24	But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25	And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26	And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27	But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28	And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29	And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30	But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31	And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32	And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33	Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
34	And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
35	And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
36	And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.