Genesis 48:1-49:27 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons
48 After this Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” he[a] summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[b] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me, 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers; I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding.’ 5 Therefore your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are now mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 As for the offspring born to you after them, they shall be yours. They shall be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. 7 For when I came from Paddan, Rachel, alas, died in the land of Canaan on the way, while there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face; and here God has let me see your children also.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from his father’s knees,[c] and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them near him. 14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 He blessed Joseph, and said,
“The God before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
16
the angel who has redeemed me from all harm, bless the boys;
and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude on the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,
“By you[d] Israel will invoke blessings, saying,
‘God make you[e] like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your ancestors. 22 I now give to you one portion[f] more than to your brothers, the portion[g] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons
49 Then Jacob called his sons, and said: “Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2
Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel your father.
3
Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the first fruits of my vigor,
excelling in rank and excelling in power.
4
Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel
because you went up onto your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—you[h] went up onto my couch!
5
Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
6
May I never come into their council;
may I not be joined to their company—
for in their anger they killed men,
and at their whim they hamstrung oxen.
7
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob,
and scatter them in Israel.
8
Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
9
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion,
like a lioness—who dares rouse him up?
10
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;[i]
and the obedience of the peoples is his.
11
Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he washes his garments in wine
and his robe in the blood of grapes;
12
his eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13
Zebulun shall settle at the shore of the sea;
he shall be a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14
Issachar is a strong donkey,
lying down between the sheepfolds;
15
he saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to the burden,
and became a slave at forced labor.
16
Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17
Dan shall be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider falls backward.
18
I wait for your salvation, O Lord.
19
Gad shall be raided by raiders,
but he shall raid at their heels.
20
Asher’s[j] food shall be rich,
and he shall provide royal delicacies.
21
Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears lovely fawns.[k]
22
Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.[l]
23
The archers fiercely attacked him;
they shot at him and pressed him hard.
24
Yet his bow remained taut,
and his arms[m] were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25
by the God of your father, who will help you,
by the Almighty[n] who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26
The blessings of your father
are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains,
the bounties[o] of the everlasting hills;
may they be on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27
Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey,
and at evening dividing the spoil.”
Psalm 30 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
Psalm 30
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Grave Illness
A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.
1
I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,
and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3
O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.[a]
4
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5
For his anger is but for a moment;
his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
6
As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.”
7
By your favor, O Lord,
you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.
8
To you, O Lord, I cried,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
9
“What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10
Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”
11
You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
12
so that my soul[b] may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
Matthew 17 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
The Transfiguration
17 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I[a] will make three dwellings[b] here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved;[c] with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 He replied, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things; 12 but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.
Jesus Cures a Boy with a Demon
14 When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon,[d] and it[e] came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a[f] mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”[g]
Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection
22 As they were gathering[h] in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, 23 and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly distressed.
Jesus and the Temple Tax
24 When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax[i] came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?”[j] 25 He said, “Yes, he does.” And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?” 26 When Peter[k] said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the children are free. 27 However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin;[l] take that and give it to them for you and me.”