Genesis 47:1-31

(1)  So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen."

(2)  And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh.

(3)  Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were."

(4)  They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."

(5)  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.

(6)  The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock."

(7)  Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood 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 sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning."

(10)  And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

(11)  Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers 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 provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

(13)  Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished 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, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

(15)  And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone."

(16)  And Joseph answered, "Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone."

(17)  So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.

(18)  And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land.

(19)  Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate."

(20)  So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's.

(21)  As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other.

(22)  Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

(23)  Then Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.

(24)  And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones."

(25)  And they said, "You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh."

(26)  So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.

(27)  Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

(28)  And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

(29)  And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt,

(30)  but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place." He answered, "I will do as you have said."

(31)  And he said, "Swear to me"; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

Philippians 1:1-30

(1)  Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

(2)  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(3)  I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

(4)  always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,

(5)  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

(6)  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

(7)  It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

(8)  For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

(9)  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,

(10)  so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

(11)  filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

(12)  I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,

(13)  so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

(14)  And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

(15)  Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.

(16)  The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

(17)  The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

(18)  What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

(19)  for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,

(20)  as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

(21)  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

(22)  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

(23)  I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

(24)  But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

(25)  Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,

(26)  so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

(27)  Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

(28)  and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

(29)  For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

(30)  engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have