Shabbat Shalom!
Welcome to Vayigash / Then He Drew Near - this week’s Torah reading
Prophecy 37, 60, 70;
Genesis 44:18-47:27;
Ezekiel 37:15-28;
Luke 24:30-48;
Genesis 44:18-47:27
18 And Judah came near to him and said, O my master, please let your servant
speak a word in the ears of my master, and let not your anger glow on our
servant, for you are like Pharaoh. 19 My master asked his servants, saying, Is there a brother or a father to you? 20 And we said to my master, An aged father is to us, and a young child of his
old age; and his brother is dead; and he alone is left of his mother; and his
father loves him. 21 And you said to your servants, Bring him down to me, and let me see him. 22 And we said to my master, The youth is not able to leave his father; and if
he should leave his father, he will die. 23 And you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come down
with you, you shall not see my face any more. 24 And it happened, when we had gone up to your servant, my father, we told him
the words of my master. 25 And our father said, Go back, buy a little food for us. 26 And we said, We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, we will
go down. For we cannot see the face of the man if our youngest brother is not
with us. 27 And your servant, my father, said to us, You know that my wife bore two to
me. 28 And one went out from me. And I said, Indeed, surely, he is torn in pieces;
and I have not seen him until now. 29 And if you take this one also from my face, and harm happens to him, you will
bring down my gray hair to the grave in sorrow. 30 And now when I come to your servant, my father, and the youth is not with us
and his soul being bound to his soul, 31 it will be when he sees that the youth is not, he will die. And your servants
will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father to the grave in sorrow. 32 For your servant was surety for the youth with my father, saying, If I do not
bring him to you, I shall be a sinner against my father all the days. 33 And now please let your servant remain as a slave to my master instead of the
youth; and let the youth go up with his brothers. 34 For how can I go to my father, and the youth not be with me, lest I look on
the evil which will find my father?
*~Genesis Chapter 45 ~*
1 And Joseph was not able to control himself in regard to those standing beside
him. And he called out, Cause every man to go out from me. And no man stood
before him as Joseph was making himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud; and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? And
his brothers were not able to answer him, for they trembled before him. 4 And Joseph said to his brothers, Now come near to me. And they came near. And
he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be grieved, and let no anger be in your eyes because you sold
me here, for ELOHIM sent me before you to save life. 6 For the famine has been in the midst of the land for two years. And there are
still five years in which no plowing and harvest will be. 7 And ELOHIM sent me before you to put a remnant in the land for you, and to
keep alive for you a great deliverance. 8 And now you did not send me here, but ELOHIM. And He has placed me for a
father to Pharaoh, and for a master in all his house, and a ruler in all the
land of Egypt. 9 Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, So says your son Joseph, ELOHIM
has placed me as a master to all Egypt. Come down to me, do not delay. 10 And you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you
and your sons and sons of your sons, and your flocks, and your herds, and all
you have. 11 And I will nourish you there, for there are still five years of famine; lest
you be made poor, you and your house and all which abides with you. 12 And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that my mouth
is speaking to you. 13 And you tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and all that you have seen.
And hurry and bring down my father here. 14 And he fell on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept
on his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. And afterwards his brothers
spoke with him. 16 And the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, The brothers of Joseph
have come. And it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his
servants. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Do this; load your animals and
depart; go to the land of Canaan. 18 And take your father, and your houses, and come to me. And I will give to you
the good of the land of Egypt; and you shall eat the fat of the land. 19 And you are commanded; you do this: Take for yourselves wagons from the land
of Egypt, for your little ones, and for your wives. And take your father and
come. 20 And your eye, let it have no regard for your vessels, for the good of all the
land of Egypt is yours. 21 And the sons of Israel did so. And Joseph gave wagons to them according to
the mouth of Pharaoh, and he gave provisions to them for the way. 22 He gave to all of them, to each one, changes of clothing. And he gave to
Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of clothing. 23 And to his father he sent this: ten donkeys bearing the good things of Egypt,
and ten she-donkeys bearing grain, and bread, and food for his father for the
way. 24 And he sent his brothers away; and they went. And he said to them, Do not
quarrel along the way. 25 And they went up from Egypt and came into the land of Canaan, to their father
Jacob. 26 And they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler in all the
land of Egypt. And his heart froze up, for he did not believe them. 27 And they spoke to him all Joseph’s words which he had spoken to them. And he
saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him; and the spirit of their father
Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, It is enough! My son Joseph is alive; I will go and see him
before I die.
*~Genesis Chapter 46 ~*
1 And Israel and all which were to him departed, and he came to Beer-Sheba. And
he sacrificed sacrifices to the Elohe of his father Isaac. 2 And ELOHIM said to Israel in visions of the night, and He spoke, Jacob! Jacob!
And he answered, I am here. 3 And He said, I am Elohe, The El of your fathers. Do not fear to go down into
Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also surely return you. And
Joseph shall put his hand on your eyes. 5 And Jacob rose up from Beer-Sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father
Jacob, and their little ones, and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had
sent to carry him. 6 And they took their livestock and their property which they had acquired in
the land of Canaan. And they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him. 7 His sons and the sons of his sons were with him, his daughters and his sons’
daughters, and all his seed he brought with him into Egypt. 8 And these were the names of the sons of Israel, those coming into Egypt, Jacob
and his sons: the first-born of Jacob was Reuben. 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 Canaanitess. 11 And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zerah. And
Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez: 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 were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan-Aram, and his
daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty 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 Ishvi, and Beriah, and their
sister Serah. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and she
bore these to Jacob, sixteen souls. 19 The sons of Rachel the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt, whom
Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, bore to him. 21 And the sons of Benjamin: Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman,
Ehi, and Rosh, and Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. 22 These were the sons of Rachel which were born to Jacob; all the souls were
fourteen. 23 And the son of Dan was Hushim. 24 And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These were the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel; and she
bore these to Jacob, all the souls were seven. 26 All the souls belonging to Jacob coming into Egypt, those springing from his
loins, besides the wives of the sons of Jacob, all the souls were sixty six. 27 And the sons of Joseph which were born to him in Egypt, two souls. All the
souls belonging to the house of Jacob coming into Egypt were seventy-five. 28 And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to give directions before him to
Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 And Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel to
Goshen. And he appeared to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long
time. 30 And Israel said to Joseph, This time let me die after seeing your face,
because you are still alive. 31 And Joseph said to his brothers, and to the house of his father, I will go up
and report to Pharaoh. And I will say to him, my brothers and the house of my
father, who were in the land of Canaan, have come in to me. 32 And the men are shepherds of flocks for they have been men of cattle. And
their flocks and their herds, and all which belongs to them they have brought
in. 33 And it shall be, when Pharaoh calls to you and says, What is your occupation? 34 You shall say, Your servants have been men of livestock from our youth even
until now, both we and our fathers. This is so that you may live in the land of
Goshen. For the abomination of Egypt is every shepherd of flocks.
*~Genesis Chapter 47 ~*
1 And Joseph came in and made known to Pharaoh, and said, My father and my
brothers, and their flocks and their herds, and all which is theirs, have come
in from the land of Canaan. 2 And, behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And he took five men from among
his brothers and set them before Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to
Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds of flocks, both we and our fathers. 4 And they said to Pharaoh, We have come in to stay in the land, because there
is no pasture for the flocks which belong to your servants, for the famine is
heavy in the land of Canaan. And now please let your servants live in the land
of Goshen. 5 And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Your father and your brothers have come
in to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you; cause your father and your brothers to live
in the best of the land; let them live in the land of Goshen. And if you know
men of ability among them, make them chiefs of livestock over what is mine. 7 And Joseph brought in his father Jacob and placed him before Pharaoh. And
Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of your life? 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my camps are a hundred and
thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life and they
have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of
their camps. 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh. 11 And Joseph caused his father and his brothers to live, and gave them a place
in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ramses, as Pharaoh
commanded. 12 And Joseph nourished his father and his brothers, and all his father’s house
with bread for the mouth of the little ones. 13 And no bread was in the land, because the famine was exceedingly severe. And
the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were completely burned up from the
famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the silver found in the land of Egypt and in the
land of Canaan in return for the grain they were buying. And Joseph brought in
the silver to the house of Pharaoh. 15 And the silver failed from the land of Egypt, and from the land of Canaan.
And all Egypt came in to Joseph, saying, Give us bread; and, Why should we die
before you? For the silver has failed. 16 And Joseph said, Give your live-stock, and I will give to you for your
livestock, if silver has failed. 17 And they brought in their livestock to Joseph. And Joseph gave bread to them
for the horses, and for the livestock of the flocks, for the livestock of the
herds, and for the donkeys . And he satisfied them with bread in that year for
all their livestock. 18 And that year ended, and they came in to him in the second year and said to
him, We cannot hide from my master that the silver and the livestock of the
animals have failed, going to my master. Nothing is left before my master except
our bodies and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land
for bread; and let us, we and our land, become slaves to Pharaoh. And give seed
so that we may live and not die, and the land not be desolate. 20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, because each one in
Egypt sold his field, because this famine was severe on them; and the land
became Pharaoh’s. 21 And as for the people, he caused them to pass over into the cities, and from
the end of the border of Egypt to its other end. 22 Only he did not buy the land of the priests; for Pharaoh had appointed a
portion for the priests, and they usually ate their appointed portion which
Pharaoh gave to them. For this reason they did not sell their land. 23 And Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have bought you and your land today.
Behold! Here is seed for you; and you sow the land. 24 And it shall be, as you gather you shall give a fifth part to Pharaoh; and
four parts shall be yours, for the seed of the field and for your food, and for
those in your houses, and for food for your little ones. 25 And they said, You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the eyes of my
master, and we will become slaves to Pharaoh. 26 And Joseph made it a law until this day on the land of Egypt, the fifth part
is for Pharaoh; only the land of the priests being excepted; it did not become
Pharaoh’s. 27 And Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they owned
in it, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.