Naaman said, “Please accept two talents of silver. ¹  He insisted, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, along with two suits of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them for Gehazi. ² 

Then Joseph gave orders to fill ¹  their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out. ² 

When they saw the chest was full of silver, the royal secretary ¹  and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple and bagged it up. ² 

Pack your bags for exile, you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt. ¹  For Memphis will be laid waste. It will lie in ruins ²  and be uninhabited.

He locks the waters in his clouds, and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

Sell your possessions ¹  and give to the poor. ²  Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out – a treasure in heaven ³  that never decreases, ⁴  where no thief approaches and no moth ⁵  destroys.

We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We do not know who put the money in our sacks!”

To ¹  one he gave five talents, ²  to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

The ¹  one with the two talents also came and said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more.’

So they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. ¹ 

who are always ready to do wrong ¹  or offer a bribe. ² 

Gather your belongings together and prepare to leave the land, you people of Jerusalem ¹  who are being besieged. ² 

In the same way, the one who had two gained two more.

When they were emptying their sacks, there was each man’s bag of money in his sack! When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid.

But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money – the full amount ¹  – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. ² 

He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.

Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

The ¹  one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, ²  you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

So each man quickly lowered ¹  his sack to the ground and opened it.