Now when they emptied their sacks, every man’s bundle of money [paid to buy grain] was in his sack. When they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

Now the famine was very severe in the land [of Canaan].

The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and [expecting the worst] they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time [we came] that we are being brought in, so that he may find a reason to accuse us and assail us, and take us as slaves, and seize our donkeys.”

So they prepared the present [of tribute] for Joseph before his arrival at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat a meal there.

Now Joseph’s brothers were seated [by the steward] before him [in the order of their birth]—the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another in astonishment [because so much was known about them].

Joseph selected and sent portions to them from his own table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely and celebrated with him.

As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.

When they had left the city, and were not yet far away, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil [to us] for good [paid to you]?

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless, for they were stunned and dismayed by [the fact that they were in] Joseph’s presence.

To his father he sent the following: ten male donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father [to supply all who were with him] on the journey.

The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah—but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On (Heliopolis in Egypt), bore to him.

These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; [there were] fourteen persons in all [two sons and twelve grandchildren].

All the persons who came with Jacob into Egypt—who were his direct descendants, not counting the wives of [Jacob or] Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all,

and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob [including Jacob, and Joseph and his sons], who came into Egypt, were seventy.

Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me;

Now your two sons [Ephraim and Manasseh], who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine [that is, adopted as my heirs and sons as surely], as Reuben and Simeon are my sons.

Now Israel’s eyes were so dim from age that he could not see [clearly]. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed and embraced them.

“But his bow remained firm and steady [in the Strength that does not fail],
For his arms were made strong and agile
By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
(By the name of the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

Now forty days were required for this, for that is the customary number of days [of preparation] required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept and grieved for him [in public mourning as they would for royalty] for seventy days.

When the days of weeping and public mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to [the nobles of] the house of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying,

Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children; also the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born and raised on Joseph’s knees.

All the descendants of Jacob were seventy people; Joseph was [already] in Egypt.

but the Israelites were prolific and increased greatly; they multiplied and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.

But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that the Egyptians dreaded and were exasperated by the Israelites.

Now it happened after a long time [about forty years] that the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel (Jacob) groaned and sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out. And their cry for help because of their bondage ascended to God.

Then the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life [for killing the Egyptian] are dead.”

So the people were scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw.

And the taskmasters pressured them, saying, “Finish your work, [fulfill] your daily quotas, just as when there was straw [given to you].”

And the Hebrew foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your required quota of making bricks yesterday and today, as before?”

The Hebrew foremen saw that they were in a bad situation because they were told, “You must not reduce [in the least] your daily quota of bricks.”

When they left Pharaoh’s presence, the foremen met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them.

I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as strangers (temporary residents, foreigners).

So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded; Aaron lifted up the staff and struck the waters in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned into blood.

The magicians (soothsayer-priests) tried by their secret arts and enchantments to create gnats, but they could not; and there were gnats on man and animal.

The magicians (soothsayer-priests) could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel lived, was there no hail.

(Now the flax and the barley were battered and ruined [by the hail], because the barley was in the ear (ripe, but soft) and the flax was in bud,

but the wheat and spelt (coarse wheat) were not battered and ruined, because they ripen late in the season.)

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! Who specifically are the ones that are going?”

No! Go now, you who are men, [without your families] and serve the Lord, if that is what you want.” So Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.

The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in the whole territory, a very dreadful mass of them; never before were there such locusts as these, nor will there ever be again.

The Egyptians [anxiously] urged the people [to leave], to send them out of the land quickly, for they said, “We will all be dead.”

And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought from Egypt; it was not leavened, since they were driven [quickly] from Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any food for themselves.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were very frightened; so the Israelites cried out to the Lord.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all that night and turned the seabed into dry land, and the waters were divided.

Then they came to Marah, but they could not drink its waters because they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah (bitter).

Then he cried to the Lord [for help], and the Lord showed him a tree, [a branch of] which he threw into the waters, and the waters became sweet.

There the Lord made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,

Then the children of Israel came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.

But Moses’ hands were heavy and he grew tired. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side; so it was that his hands were steady until the sun set.

So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and flashes of lightning, and a thick cloud was on the mountain, and a very loud blast was sounded on a ram’s horn, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul [the feelings, thoughts, and concerns] of a stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.

Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both sides—they were written on one side and on the other.

The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to the point of being an object of mockery among their enemies—

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you smashed [when you learned of Israel’s idolatry].

Then all whose hearts moved them, both men and women, came and brought brooches, earrings or nose rings, signet rings, and necklaces, all jewels of gold; everyone bringing an offering of gold to the Lord.

All the skilled and talented women spun thread with their hands, and brought what they had spun, blue and purple and scarlet fabric and fine linen.

And all the skilled men who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came, each one from the work which he was doing,

So Moses issued a command, and it was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the sanctuary offering.” So the people were restrained from bringing anything more;

Each curtain was twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide; all the curtains were one size.

He made fifty loops in the one curtain [of the first set] and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was in the second set; the loops were opposite one another.

Each curtain was thirty cubits long and four cubits wide; the eleven curtains were of equal size.

They were separate below, but linked together at the top with one ring; thus he made both of them in both corners.

There were eight boards with sixteen silver sockets, and under [the end of] each board two sockets.

For the veil (partition curtain) he made four support poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were gold, and he cast for them four silver sockets.

and [he made] the five support poles with their hooks, and overlaid their [ornamental] tops and connecting rings with gold; but their five sockets were bronze.

He cast four rings of gold for it and fastened the rings to the four corners that were at its four legs.

Close by the rim were the rings, the holders for the poles [to pass through] to carry the table.

He made the utensils which were to be on the table, its dishes and its pans [for bread], its bowls and its jars for pouring drink offerings, of pure gold.

Then he made the lampstand (menorah) of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work, its base and its [center] shaft; its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were all of one piece with it.

There were six branches coming out of the sides of the lampstand, three branches from one side of the center shaft and three branches from the other side of it;

On the center shaft of the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond blossoms, with calyxes and flowers [one at the top];

Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it; all of it was a single hammered work of pure gold.

Then Bezalel made the incense altar of acacia wood; its top was a cubit square and it was two cubits high; the horns were of one piece with it.

And he made its horns (horn-shaped projections) on the four corners of it; the horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.

Then he made the court: for the south side the curtains of the court were of fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits;

their twenty support poles, and their twenty bronze sockets; the hooks of the support poles and their connecting rings were silver.

And for the north side [of the court the curtains were also] a hundred cubits; their twenty support poles and their twenty bronze sockets; the hooks of the support poles and their connecting rings were silver.

For the west side [of the court] there were curtains of fifty cubits with their ten support poles and their ten sockets; the hooks of the support poles and their connecting rings were silver.

The curtains for one side of the court gate were fifteen cubits, with their three support poles and their three sockets;

and the same for the other side [of the court gate]. Left and right of the court gate there were curtains of fifteen cubits; with their three support poles and their three sockets.

All the curtains around the court were of fine twisted linen.

The sockets for the support poles were made of bronze, the hooks of the support poles and their connecting rings were made of silver; and silver overlaid their tops. All the support poles of the court had silver connecting rings.

Their four support poles and their four sockets were bronze; their hooks were silver, and silver overlaid their tops and their connecting rings.

All the pegs for the tabernacle and the court were bronze.

The hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil (partition curtain); a hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.

and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they were mounted in settings of gold filigree.

The stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel; they were twelve [in all], corresponding to their names, engraved like a signet, each with its name, for the twelve tribes.

‘This is the consecrated portion from the offerings by fire to the Lord that was designated for Aaron and his sons on the day he presented them to serve as priests to the Lord.

The Lord commanded this to be given to the priests by the Israelites on the day that He anointed them. It is their portion perpetually throughout their generations.’”

Then Moses said to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the offerings by fire to the Lord, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.

But Moses diligently tried to find the goat [that had been offered] as the sin offering, and discovered that it had been burned up [as waste, not eaten]! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying,

(for all these repulsive acts have been done by the men who lived in the land before you, and the land has become defiled);

So keep My command: do not practice any of the repulsive customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves by them; I am the Lord your God.’”

But the stranger who resides with you shall be to you like someone native-born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

If a man lies [intimately] with a male as if he were a woman, both men have committed a detestable (perverse, unnatural) act; they shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them.

These men were the ones called from the congregation, the leaders of their fathers’ (ancestors’) tribes; they were the heads of thousands [the highest ranking officers] in Israel.”

The sons of Reuben, Israel’s (Jacob’s) firstborn, their generations, by their families (clans), by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: