Now Joseph was 30 years old ¹  when he began serving ²  Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by ³  Pharaoh and was in charge of ⁴  all the land of Egypt.

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ¹  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ²  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ³ 

“So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. ¹ 

When he sees the boy is not with us, ¹  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave.

Then he instructed them, ¹  “I am about to go ²  to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.

¹  “When you assist ²  the Hebrew women in childbirth, observe at the delivery: ³  If it is a son, kill him, ⁴  but if it is a daughter, she may live.” ⁵ 

Then the daughter of Pharaoh ¹  came down to wash herself ²  by the Nile, while her attendants were walking alongside the river, ³  and she saw the basket among the reeds. She sent one of her attendants, ⁴  took it, ⁵ 

and the people believed. When they heard ¹  that the Lord had attended to ²  the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground. ³ 

As Aaron spoke ¹  to the whole community of the Israelites and they looked toward the desert, there the glory of the Lord ²  appeared ³  in the cloud,

¹ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that ²  the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ³ 

or when he touches human uncleanness with regard to anything by which he can become unclean, ¹  even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty;

Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year, ¹  that the cloud prolonged its stay ²  over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling; ³  but when it was taken up, they traveled on.

¹ When the people complained, ²  it displeased ³  the Lord. When the Lord heard ⁴  it, his anger burned, ⁵  and so ⁶  the fire of the Lord ⁷  burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.

¹ Now the mixed multitude ²  who were among them craved more desirable foods, ³  and so the Israelites wept again ⁴  and said, “If only we had meat to eat! ⁵ 

So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported ¹  to him the words of Balak.

The Lord said to me, “Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession.”

Then, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, all your tribal leaders and elders approached me.

Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you – a land with large, fine cities you did not build,

When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf; ¹  you had quickly turned aside from the way he ²  had commanded you!

When you do go across the Jordan River ¹  and settle in the land he ²  is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety. ³