Bible in a Year.

On the twenty-sixth day, we conclude Genesis and Job. Genesis 49-50 presents Jacob's prophetic blessings on his twelve sons, forming the tribes of Israel, followed by the deaths of Jacob and Joseph, closing the patriarchal era. Job 41-42 culminates with God describing the mighty Leviathan and Job's humble response, repenting and then being restored twofold by God. Psalm 17 is David's prayer for justice and divine protection, expressing confidence that he will see God's face in righteousness and be satisfied with His likeness.

Chapter 49

1. And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.

2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:

3. Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.

4. Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not: because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.

5. Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.

6. Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: "be- cause in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.

7. Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath because it was cruel: I Will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.

8. Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.

9. Juda is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?

10. The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.

11. 11Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, 0 my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.

12. His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

13. Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

14. Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders.

16. He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute.

16. Dan shall judge his people like an- other tribe in Israel.

17. Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels that his rider may fall backward.

18. I will look for thy salvation, 0 Lord.

19. Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.

20. Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.

21. Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.

22. Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall.

23. But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.

24. His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.

26. The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth be- neath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26. The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.

27. Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.

28. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one, with their proper blessings.

29. And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people : bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite,

30. Over against Mambre in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought to- gather with the field of Ephron the Hethite for a possession to bury in.

31. There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.

32. And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people."

Chapter 50

1. And when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his father's face weeping and kissing him.

2. And he commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father.

3. And while they were fulfilling his commands, there passed forty days: for this was the manner with bodies that were embalmed, and Egypt mounted for him seventy days.

4. And the time of the mourning being expired, Joseph spoke to the family of Pharao: If I have found favour in your sight, speak in the ears of Pharao:

5. For my father made me swear to him, saying: Behold I die: thou shalt bury me in my sepulchre which I have digged for myself in the land of Chanaan. So I will go up and bury my father, and return.

6. And Pharao said to him: Go up and bury thy father according as he made thee swear.

7. So he went up, and there went with him all the ancients of Pharao's house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

8. And the house of Joseph with his brethren, except their children, and their flocks and herds, which they left in the land of Gessen.

9. He had also in his train chariots and horsemen: and it was it great company.

10. And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan: where celebrating the exequies with a great and vehement lamentation, they spent full seven days.

11. And when the inhabitants of Chanaan saw this, they said: This is a great mourning to the Egyptians. And there- fore the name of that place was called, The mourning of Egypt.

12. So the sons of Jacob did as he had commanded them.

13. And carrying him into the land of Chanaan, they buried him in the double cave which Abraham had bought together with the held for a possession of a buryingplace, of Ephron the Hethite over against Mambre.

14. And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brethren, and all that were in his company, after he had buried his father.

15. Now he being dead, his brethren were afraid, and talked one with another : Lest perhaps he should remember the wrong he suffered, and requite us all the evil that we did to him.

16. And they sent a message to him, saying: Thy father commanded us before he died,

17. That we should say thus much to thee from him: I beseech thee to forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice they practiced against thee: we also pray thee, to forgive the servants of the God of thy father this wickedness. And when Joseph heard this, he wept.

18. And his brethren came to him: and worshipping prostrate on the ground they said: We are thy servants.

19. And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of God?

20. You thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that he might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.

21. Fear not: I will feed you and your children. And he comforted them, and spoke gently and mildly.

22. And he dwelt in Egypt with all his father's house: and lived a hundred and ten years. And he saw the children of Ephraim to the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Ma-nasses were born on Joseph's knees.

23. After which he told his brethren: God will visit you after my death, and will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

24. And he made them swear to him, saying: God will visit you, Carry my bones with you out of this place:

25. And he died being a hundred and ten years old. And being embalmed he was laid in a coffin in Egypt.

Chapter 41

1. I will not stir him up, like one that is cruel : for who can resist my countenance?

2. Who hath given me before that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine.

3. I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to make supplication.

4. Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go into the midst of his mouth?

5. Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

6. His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another.

7. One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come between them :

8. They stick one to another and they hold one another fast, and shall not be separated.

9. His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes like the eyelids of the morning.

10. Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted fire.

11. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and boiling.

12. His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth.

13. In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his face.

14. The members of his flesh cleave one to another : he shall send lightnings against him, and they shall not be carried to another place.

15. His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith's anvil.

16. When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall purify themselves.

17. When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to hold, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.

18. For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

19. The archer shall not put him to flight, the stones of the sling are to him like stubble.

20. As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh him to scorn who shaketh the spear.

21. The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall strew gold under him like mire.

22. He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall make it as when ointments boil.

23. A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as growing old.

24. There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one.

25. He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of pride.

Chapter 42

1. Then Job answered the Lord, and said :

2. I know that thou canst do all things, and no thought is hid from thee.

3. Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have spoken unwisely, and things that above measure exceeded my knowledge.

4. Hear, and I will speak : I will ask thee, and do thou tell me.

5. With the hearing of the ear, I have heard thee, but now my eye seeth thee.

6. Therefore I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and ashes.

7. And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Themanite : My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends, because you have not spoken the thing that is right before my, as my servant Job hath.

8. Take unto you therefore seven oxen, and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust : and my servant Job shall pray for you : his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to you : for you have not spoken right things before me, as my servant Job hath.

9. So Eliphaz the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Sophar the Naamathite went, and did as the Lord had spoken to them, and the Lord accepted the face of Job.

10. The Lord also was turned at the penance of Job, when he prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

11. And all his brethren came to him, and all his sisters, and all that knew him before, and they ate bread with him in his house : and bemoaned him, and comforted him upon all the evil that God had brought upon him. And every man gave him one ewe, and one earring of fold.

12. And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

13. And he had seven sons, and three daughters.

14. And he called the names of one Dies, and the name of the second Cassia, and the name of the third Cornustibil.

15. And there were not found in all the earth women so beautiful as the daughters of Job : and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

16. And Job lived after these things, a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children, and his children's children, unto the fourth generation, and he died an old man, and full of days.

1. The prayer of David. Hear, O Lord, my justice: attend to my supplication. Give ear unto my prayer, which proceedeth not from deceitful lips.

2. Let my judgment come forth from thy countenance: let thy eyes behold the things that are equitable.

3. Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, thou hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me.

4. That my mouth may not speak the works of men: for the sake of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways.

5. Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: that my footsteps be not moved.

6. I have cried to thee, for thou, O God, hast heard me: O incline thy ear unto me, and hear my words.

7. Shew forth thy wonderful mercies; thou who savest them that trust in thee.

8. From them that resist thy right hand keep me, as the apple of thy eye. Protect me under the shadow of thy wings.

9. From the face of the wicked who have afflicted me. My enemies have surrounded my soul:

10. they have shut up their fat: their mouth hath spoken proudly.

11. They have cast me forth and now they have surrounded me: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth.

12. They have taken me, as a lion prepared for the prey; and as a young lion dwelling in secret places.

13. Arise, O Lord, disappoint him and supplant him; deliver my soul from the wicked one: thy sword

14. from the enemies of thy hand. O Lord, divide them from the few of the earth in their life: their belly is filled from thy hidden stores. They are full of children: and they have left to their little ones the rest of their substance.

15. But as for me, I will appear before thy sight in justice: I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear.