• Gen 37:1-40:23
• Amos 2:6-3:8
• Mat 1:1-6, 16-25

Vayeishev means “and he settled.”

Berĕshith (Genesis) 37:1-40:23

Yoseph’s Dream

Berĕshith Chapter 37
¹Now Ya‛aqoḇ lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Kena‛an.
² This is the account of Ya‛aqoḇ. When Yosěph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
³ Now Yashar’Al loved Yosěph more than his other sons, because Yosěph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a long robe.  ⁴When Yosěph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
⁵ Then Yosěph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves of grain in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine.”
⁸“Do you intend to reign over us?” his brothers asked. “Will you actually rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and his statements.
⁹Then Yosěph had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
¹⁰ He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream that you have had? Will your mother and brothers and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” ¹¹ And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.

Yosěph Sold into Mitstayim (Acts 7:9–14)

¹² Some time later, Yosěph’s brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks near Shechem. ¹³ Yashar’Al said to him, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flocks at Shechem? Get ready; I am sending you to them.”
“I am ready,” Yosěph replied.
¹⁴ Then Yashar’Al told him, “Go now and see how your brothers and the flocks are faring, and bring word back to me.”
So he sent him off from the Valley of Ḥeḇron. And when Yosěph arrived in Sheḵem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering in the field and asked, “What are you looking for?”
¹⁶ “I am looking for my brothers,” Yosěph replied. “Can you please tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?”
¹⁷ “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Yosěph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
¹⁸ Now Yosěph’s brothers saw him in the distance, and before he arrived, they plotted to kill him. ¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to one another. ²⁰ “Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams!”
²¹ When Re’uḇěn heard this, he tried to rescue Yosěph from their hands. “Let us not take his life,” he said. ²² “Do not shed his blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him.” Re’uḇěn said this so that he could rescue Yosěph from their hands and return him to his father.
²³ So when Yosěph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the long robe he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.
²⁵ And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Yishma‛ělites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Mitsrayim.
²⁶ Then Yahuḏah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed. ²⁸ So when the Miḏyanite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Yosěph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver  to the Yishma‛ělites, who took him to Mitsraqyim.
²⁹ When Re’uḇěn returned to the pit and saw that Yosěph was not there, he tore his clothes, ³⁰ returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

Ya‛aqoḇ Mourns Yosěph

³¹ Then they took Yosěph’s robe, slaughtered a young goat, and dipped the robe in its blood. ³² They sent the long robe to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe or not.”
³³ His father recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A vicious animal has devoured him. Yosěph has surely been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ Then Ya‛aqoḇ tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to She’ol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianites  sold Yosěph in Mitsrayim to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Yahuḏah and Tamar (1 Chronicles 2:3–4)

Berĕshith Chapter 38

¹About that time, Yahuḏah left his brothers and settled near a man named Ḥirah, an Ḥirah. ² There Yahuḏah saw the daughter of a Kena‛anite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her. ³ So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Yahuḏah named him Ěr. ⁴ Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan. ⁵ Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shělah; it was at Keziḇ that she gave birth to him.
⁶ Now Yahuḏah acquired a wife for Ěr, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Ěr, Yahuḏah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄; so 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 put him to death. ⁸ Then Yahuḏah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
⁹ But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. ¹⁰ What he did was wicked in the sight of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, so He put Onan to death as well.
¹¹ Then Yahuḏah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shělah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
¹² After a long time Yahuḏah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Yahuḏah had finished mourning, he and his friend Ḥirah the Aḏullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah. ¹³When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” ¹⁴ she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Ěnayim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
¹⁵ When Yahuḏah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. ¹⁶ Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”
“What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired.
¹⁷ “I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Yahuḏah answered.
But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.”
¹⁸ “What pledge should I give you?” he asked.
She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. ¹⁹ Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.
²⁰ Now when Yahuḏah sent his friend the Aḏullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her. ²¹ He asked the men of that place, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Ěnayim?”
“No shrine prostitute has been here,” they answered.
²²So he returned to Yahuḏah and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’ ”
²³ “Let her keep the items,” Yahuḏah replied. “Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you could not find her.”
²⁴ About three months later, Yahuḏah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.”
“Bring her out!” Yahuḏah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”
²⁵ As she was being brought out, Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?”
²⁶ Yahuḏah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shělah.” And he did not have relations with her again.

The Birth of Perets and Zerah

²⁷ When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her womb. ²⁸ And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced. ²⁹ But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perets.  ³⁰ Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zeraḥ.

Yosěph and Potiphar’s Wife
Berĕshith Chapter 39

¹Meanwhile, Yosěph had been taken down to Mitsrayim, where a Mitsrian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Yishma‛ělites who had taken him there. ² And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 was with Yosěph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Mitsrian master.
³ When his master saw that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 was with him and made him prosper in all he did, ⁴ Yosěph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant.
Potiphar put him in charge of his household and entrusted him with everything he owned. ⁵ From the time that he put Yosěph in charge of his household and all he owned, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 blessed the Mitsrian’s household on account of him. 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄’s blessing was on everything he owned, both in his house and in his field. ⁶ So Potiphar left all that he owned in Yosěph’s care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Yosěph was well-built and handsome, ⁷ and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Yosěph and said, “Sleep with me.”
⁸ But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care. ⁹ No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against Alahym?”
¹⁰ Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Yosěph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her. ¹¹ One day, however, Yosěph went into the house to attend to his work, and not a single household servant was inside. ¹² She grabbed Yosěph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.

Yosěph Falsely Imprisoned

¹³ When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, ¹⁴she called her household servants. “Look,” she said, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to mock us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, but I screamed as loud as I could. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
¹⁶ So Potiphar’s wife kept Yosěph’s cloak beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to mock me, ¹⁸ but when I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
¹⁹ When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” he burned with anger. ²⁰ So Yosěph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined.
While Yosěph was there in the prison, ²¹ 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. ²² And the warden put all the prisoners under Yosěph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison. ²³ The warden did not concern himself with anything under Yosěph’s care, because 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 was with Yosěph and gave him success in whatever he did.

The Cupbearer and the Baker

Berĕshith Chapter 40
¹Some time later, the king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Mitsrayim. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³ and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Yosěph was confined. ⁴ The captain of the guard assigned them to Yosěph, and he became their personal attendant.
After they had been in custody for some time, ⁵ both of these men—the Miitsrain king’s cupbearer and baker, who were being held in the prison—had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.
⁶ When Yosěph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught. ₇ So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”
⁸ “We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Yosěph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to Alahym? Tell me your dreams.”
⁹ So the chief cupbearer told Yosěph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”
¹² Yosěph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days. ¹³ Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison. ¹⁵ For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”
¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Yosěph, “I too had a dream: There were three baskets of white bread on my head. ¹⁷ In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
¹⁸Yosěph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree.  Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”
²⁰On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ²¹ Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Yosěph had described to them in his interpretation.
²³ The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Yosěph; he forgot all about him.

Amos 2:6-3:8

Judgment on Yashar’Al

Amos Chapter 2

⁶ This is what 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 says:

“For three transgressions of Yashar’Al, even four,

I will not revoke My judgment,

because they sell the righteous for silver

and the needy for a pair of sandals.

⁷ They trample on the heads of the poor

as on the dust of the earth;

they push the needy out of their way.

A man and his father

have relations with the same girl

and so profane My set apart name.

⁸ They lie down beside every altar

on garments taken in pledge.

And in the house of their Alahym,

they drink wine obtained through fines. 

⁹ Yet it was I who destroyed

the Amorite before them,

though his height was like that of the cedars,

and he was as strong as the oaks.

Yet I destroyed his fruit above

and his roots below.

¹⁰ And I brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim

and led you forty years in the wilderness,

    that you might take possession

of the land of the Amorite.

¹¹I raised up prophets from your sons

and Nazarites from your young men.

    Is this not true,

O children of Yashar’Al?”

declares 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

¹² “But you made the Nazarites drink wine

and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

¹³ Behold, I am about to crush you in your place

as with a cart full of grain.

¹⁴ Escape will fail the swift,

the strong will not prevail by his strength,

and the mighty will not save his life.

¹⁵ The archer will not stand his ground,

the fleet of foot will not escape,

and the horseman will not save his life.

¹⁶ Even the bravest of mighty men

will flee naked on that day,”

declares 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

Yashar’Al guilt and punishment

Amos Chapter 3

¹Hear this word that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 has spoken against you, O children of Yashar’Al, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Mitsrayim:

² “Only you have I known   

from all the families of the earth;

therefore I will punish you

for all your iniquities.”

³ Can two walk together

without agreeing where to go?  

⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest

when he has no prey?

Does a young lion growl in his den

if he has caught nothing?

⁵Does a bird land in a snare

where no bait has been set?

Does a trap spring from the ground

when it has nothing to catch?

⁶ If a ram’s horn sounds in a city,

do the people not tremble?

If calamity comes to a city,

has not 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 caused it?

⁷Surely Master 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 does nothing

without revealing His plan

to His servants the prophets.

⁸ The lion has roared—

who will not fear?

Master 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 has spoken— who will not prophesy?

Mattithyahu (Matthew) 1:1-6, 16-25

The Genealogy of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤅𐤏  (Ruth 4:18–22 ;  Luke 3:23–38)

Mattithyahu Chapter 1

¹This is the record of the genealogy of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤅𐤏 Messiah, the son of Daud, the son of Aḇraham:

² Aḇraham was the father of Aḇraham,

Isaac the father of Ya‛aqoḇ

and Ya‛aqoḇ the father of Yahuḏah and his brothers.

³ Yahuḏah was the father of Perets and Zeraḥ by Tamar,

Perets the father of Ḥetsron,

and Ḥetsron the father of Ram.  

⁴ Ram was the father of Amminaḏaḇ,

Amminaḏaḇ the father of Naḥshon,

and Naḥshon the father of Salmon.

⁵ Salmon was the father of Bo‛az by Raḥaḇ,

Bo‛az the father of Oḇěḏ by Ruth,

Oḇěḏ the father of Yishai,

⁶ and Yishai the father of Daud the king.

Next:

Daud was the father of Shelomoh by Uriyah’s wife…

¹⁶and Ya‛aqoḇ the father of Yosěph, the husband of Maryam,

of whom was born 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤅𐤏, who is called Messiah.

¹⁷ In all, then, there were fourteen generations from Aḇraham to Daud, fourteen from Daud to the exile to Baḇel, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

The Birth of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤅𐤏  (Isaiah 7:10–16 ;  Luke 2:1–7)

18 This is how the birth of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤅𐤏 Messiah came about: His mother Maryam was pledged in marriage to Yosěph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Set Apart Spirit. 19 Because Yosěph her husband was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had pondered these things, a messenger of the Master appeared to him in a dream and said, “Yosěph, son of Daud, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Set Apart Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤅𐤏, because He will save His people from their sins¹.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Master had said through the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin will be with child

and will give birth to a son, and they shall call His Name Ammanu’Al,” (which means, “Alahym with us” ).

24 When Yosěph woke up, he did as the messenger of the Master had commanded him and embraced Maryam as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her  until she gave birth to a Son. And he gave Him the name 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤅𐤏.

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Footnotes

1. This is the meaning of the Hebrew of His Name. ↩︎