Shabbat Shalom!
Welcome to Vayeshev / And He Lived - this week’s Torah reading
Prophecy 65, 66, 149;
Genesis 37:1–40:23;
Amos 2:6-3:8;
Matthew 1:18-25;
Genesis 37:1–40:23
1 And Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, was
feeding the flock with his brothers, with Bilhah’s sons and with Zilpah’s sons,
his father’s wives. And he was a youth. And Joseph brought an evil report of
them to their father. 3 And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was a son of old
age to him. And he made a coat of many colors reaching to the feet. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers,
and they hated him. And they were not able to speak to him for peace. 5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and told it to his brothers. And they increased to
hate him still more. 6 And he said to them, Now hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 And, behold! We were binding sheaves in the middle of the field. And, behold,
my sheaf rose up and also stood up. And, behold, your sheaves came around and
bowed themselves to my sheaf. 8 And his brothers said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us, or shall you
really rule over us? And they hated him still more because of his dreams, and
because of his words. 9 And he dreamed still another dream, and told it to his brothers. And he said,
Behold, I have dreamed another dream: And, behold, the sun and the moon and the
eleven stars were bowing themselves to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brothers. And his father rebuked
him, and said to him, What is this dream which you have dreamed? Shall we indeed
come to bow ourselves to the earth to you, I, your mother, and your brothers? 11 And his brothers envied him. But his father was attentive to the word. 12 And his brothers went to feed the flock of their father in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem?
Come, and I will send you to them. And he said to him, I am here. 14 And he said to him, Now go, see the welfare of your brothers, and the welfare
of the flock, and bring word back to me. And he sent him out of the valley of
Hebron. And he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him. And, behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man
asked him, saying, What do you seek? 16 And he said, I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are
feeding the flock. 17 And the man said, They have left here, for I heard them say, Let us go
towards Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. 18 And they saw him from a distance. And before he came near to them, they
plotted against him, to kill him. 19 And they said, each to his brother, Behold, this master of dreams is coming. 20 And, Come now, and let us kill him, and throw him into one of the pits. And
let us say, An evil beast has eaten him. And let us see what will become of his
dreams. 21 And Reuben heard, and he delivered him from their hands, and said, Let us not
strike his soul. 22 And Reuben said to them, Do not shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the
desert, but do not lay a hand on him; so that he might deliver him from their
hands, to return him to his father. 23 And it happened when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped his robe
which was on him, from Joseph, the long robe reaching to the feet. 24 And they took him and threw him into the pit, the pit being empty, no water
in it. 25 And they sat down to eat bread. And they lifted up their eyes and looked.
And, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead! And their camels were
bearing spices, and balsam gum, and sticky gum, going down to take them to
Egypt. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, What gain is it that we kill our brother and
conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and do not let our hand be on him.
For he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers listened. 28 And men, Midianites, traders, passed. And they drew up and took Joseph out of
the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.
And they brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 And Reuben came back to the pit. And, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and
he tore his clothes. 30 And he returned to his brothers and said, The child, he is not. And I, where
shall I go? 31 And they took Joseph’s long robe, and killed a ram of the goats, and dipped
the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the long robe reaching to the feet, and they took it to their
father, and said, We have found this. Now look, is it not your son’s robe? 33 And he knew it, and said, My son’s robe! An evil beast has eaten him. Surely
Joseph is torn to pieces. 34 And Jacob tore his clothing and put sackcloth on his loins. And he mourned
many days for his son. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him. And he refused
to be comforted, and said, I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son. And his
father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt, to Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, the
chief of the executioners. *~Genesis Chapter 38 ~*
1 And it happened at that time that Judah went down, away from his brothers, and
turned aside to a man of Adullam named Hirah. 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a Canaanite man named Shuah. And he took
her, and went in to her. 3 And she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Er. 4 And she conceived again and bore a son and called his name Onan. 5 And she continued still and bore a son. And she called his name Shelah. And he
was at Chezib when she bore him. 6 And Judah took a wife for his firstborn, Er, and her name, Tamar. 7 And Er, Judah’s first-born, was evil in the eyes of YAHUVEH. And YAHUVEH
killed him. 8 And Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise
up seed to your brother. 9 And Onan knew that the seed would not be his. And it happened when he went in
to his brother’s wife, he wasted his semen to the ground, not giving seed to his
brother. 10 And what he did was evil in the eyes of YAHUVEH, and He also killed him. 11 And Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, Live as a widow in your father’s
house until my son Shelah is grown. For he said, Lest he also die like his
brothers. And Tamar went and lived in her father’s house. 12 And the days were many, and the wife of Judah, the daughter of Shuah, died.
And Judah was comforted, and he went up to the shearers of his flocks, he and
his friend Hirah of Adullam, to Timnah. 13 And Tamar was told, saying, Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah
to shear his flocks. 14 And she took off her widow’s robes from her, and veiled herself with a veil,
and disguised herself. And she sat at the entrance of Enaim, which is on the way
to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah had grown up and she had not been given to
him for a wife. 15 And Judah saw her. And he thought her to be a harlot, because she had veiled
her face. 16 And he turned aside to her by the roadway, and said, Come now, let me come in
to you. For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What
will you give me that you may come in to me? 17 And he said, I will send a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said,
Will you give me a pledge until you send it? 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give to you? And she said, Your signet ring,
and your bracelet and your staff in your hand. And he gave to her, and came in
to her. And she conceived by him. 19 And she rose up and left, and took off her veil from her face. And she put on
her widow’s robes. 20 And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite,
to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand. And he did not find her. 21 And he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the harlot that was at
Enaim, by the roadway? And they said, There was no harlot here. 22 And he returned to Judah and said, I have not found her. And also the men of
the place said, There was no harlot here. 23 And Judah said, Let her take them for herself, that we not become a laughing
stock. See, I sent this kid, and you did not find her. 24 And after three months, it happened. It was told to Judah, saying, Your
daughter-in-law Tamar has committed adultery, and also, behold, she is pregnant
by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her out and let her be burned. 25 She was being brought out, and she sent to her father-in-law, saying, I am
pregnant by a man to whom these belong. And she said, Note now whose are these,
the signet ring, the bracelet, and the staff? 26 And Judah knew and said, She is more righteous than I, because I did not give
her to my son Shelah. And he never knew her again. 27 And in the time of her bearing, behold, it happened! Twins were in her womb. 28 And in her bearing, it happened that one put forth a hand, and the midwife
took it and tied crimson on his hand, saying, This one came out first. 29 And it happened as he withdrew his hand, behold, his brother came out. And
she said, How have you broken a break for yourself? And one called his name
Pharez . 30 And then his brother came out, on whose hand was the crimson. And one called
his name Zarah. *~Genesis Chapter 39 ~*
1 And Joseph was carried down to Egypt. And Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, the
chief of the executioners, an Egyptian man, bought him from the hand of the
Ishmaelites who had carried him down there. 2 And YAHUVEH was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. And he was in the
house of the Egyptian, his master. 3 And his master saw that YAHUVEH was with him, and Joseph was prospering in his
hand everything which he did. 4 And Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. And he appointed him over
his house, and he gave all he owned into his hand. 5 And it came about that from the time he appointed him over his house and over
all he owned, YAHUVEH blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake. And the
blessing of YAHUVEH was on all that he had, in the house and in the field. 6 And he left all he owned in Joseph’s hand. And he did not know anything that
he had, except the bread which he was eating. And Joseph was beautiful in form
and beautiful of appearance. 7 And after these things, it happened that his master’s wife lifted up her eyes
to Joseph, and said, Lie with me. 8 And he refused, and said to his master’s wife, Behold, my master does not know
what is in the house with me, and all that he owns he has given into my hand. 9 No one in this house is greater than I, and he has not withheld anything from
me except you, because you are his wife. And how should I do this great evil and
sin against ELOHIM? 10 And it happened, as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to
her, to lie beside her, to be with her. 11 And it happened on this day, that he went into the house to do his work. And
none of the men of the house were there in the house. 12 And she caught him by his robe, saying, Lie with me! And he left his robe in
her hand and fled, and went outside. 13 And it happened, when she saw that he had left his robe in her hand, and had
fled outside, 14 she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, Behold! He has
brought to us a Hebrew man in to mock at us. He came in to me to lie with me,
and I cried with a loud voice. 15 And it happened when he heard that I raised my voice and cried, he left his
robe by me and fled, and went outside. 16 And she kept his robe beside her until the coming of his master to his house. 17 And she spoke these same words to him, saying, The Hebrew slave whom you
brought in to us came in to mock at me. 18 And it happened at my raising my voice and crying out, he left his robe
beside me and fled outside. 19 And it happened, when his master heard his wife’s words which she spoke to
him, saying, According to these words your slave did to me, his anger glowed. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison house, the place
where the king’s prisoners were bound. And he was there in the prison house. 21 And YAHUVEH was with Joseph, and extended kindness to him. And He gave him
favor in the eyes of the warden of the prison house. 22 And the warden of the prison house gave all the prisoners in the prison house
into Joseph’s hand. And all which they did there, he was doing. 23 There was no looking of the warden of the prison house to anything in his
hand, in that YAHUVEH was with him, and YAHUVEH was prospering what he was
doing. *~Genesis Chapter 40 ~*
1 And after these things, it happened, the cupbearer and the baker of the king
of Egypt sinned against their master, against the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry against his two eunuchs, against the chief of the
cupbearers and against the chief of the bakers. 3 And he gave them into custody, in the house of the chief of the executioners,
into the prison house, the place where Joseph was bound. 4 And the chief of the executioners appointed Joseph to be with them, and he
served them. And they were in custody many days. 5 And they dreamed a dream, both of them, each his dream in one night, each
according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker who
belonged to the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison house. 6 And Joseph came in to them in the morning. And he looked at them, and, behold,
they were sad. 7 And he asked the officers of Pharaoh who were with him in custody, in the
house of his master, saying, Why are your faces sad today? 8 And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is not one to open
it. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to ELOHIM? Now tell
it to me. 9 And the chief of the cupbearers told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In
my dream, behold, a vine was before me. 10 And in the vine were three branches. And at its budding, it went up into
blossom, its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and press-ed them
into the cup of Pharaoh; and I gave the cup into the hand of Pharaoh. 12 And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation: the three branches, they
are three days. 13 Yet within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and will return you to
your place. And you will give the cup of Pharaoh into his hand according to the
former custom when you were his cupbearer. 14 But make mention of me along with yourself, when it is well with you; and
please do kindness with me and mention me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this
house. 15 For truly I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have not
done anything that they should have put me into the dungeon. 16 And the chief of the bakers saw that the interpretation was good. And he said
to Joseph, I also in my dream saw three baskets of white bread on my head. 17 And in the top basket some from all the food of Pharaoh, the work of a baker.
And the birds were eating them from the basket off my head. 18 And Joseph answered and said, This is its interpretation: the three baskets
are three days. 19 Yet within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and hang you on
a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you. 20 And it happened, on the third day, the day of Pharaoh’s birth, he made a
feast for all his servants. And he lifted up the head of the chief of the
cup-bearers and the head of the chief of the bakers in the midst of his
servants. 21 And he restored the chief of the cupbearers to his cupbearer office; and he
gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. 22 And he hanged the chief of the bakers, as Joseph interpreted to them. 23 And the chief of the cupbearers did not mention Joseph, but forgot him.