A reading from the Book of Genesis. Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, Make everyone go out from me. So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it, and Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph, is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, please. And they came near. And he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt, and now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me. You and your children and your children's children and your flocks, your herds and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household and all that you have do not come to poverty. And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here. Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck, and he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, Joseph's brothers have come. It pleased Pharaoh and his servants, and Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Do this, load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land. And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, Do this, take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. The sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. To his father he sent as follows, ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread and provision for his father on the journey. Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed he said to them, Do not quarrel on the way. So they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob, and they told him, Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt, and his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived, and Israel said, It is enough, Joseph my son is still alive, I will go and see him before I die. So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac, and God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob, and he said, Here I am. Then he said, I am God, the God of your father, do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation, I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes. Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt. Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters, all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons Ruben, Jacob's firstborn, and the sons of Ruben. Hanok, Palu, Hesran, and Karmai, the sons of Simeon. Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jacob, Zohar, and Shal, the son of a Canaanite woman, the sons of Levi, Gershin, Kohath, and Marari, the sons of Judah, Ur, Onan, Sheila, Pires, and Zira, but Ur and Onan died in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Pires were Hesran and Hamel, the sons of Isikar, Tola, Puvah, Yab, and Shemran, the sons of Zebulun, Sered, Elan, and Jalil. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob and Padinarum, together with his daughter Daina, all together his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. The sons of Gad, the sons of Gad, Zifian, Haga, Shunai, Esban, Iri, Erodei, and Aralai, the sons of Asher, Emna, Ishwa, Ishwai, Baraiyah, with Sira their sister, and the sons of Baraiyah, Heber and Malkiel. These are the sons of Zilpa, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob sixteen persons. The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife, Joseph, and Benjamin, and to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potipharah, the priest of An, bore to him, and the sons of Benjamin, Bila, Beaker, Ashbel, Gira, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Mupam, Hupam, and Ard. These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob fourteen persons in all. The son of Dan, Hushim, the sons of Naphtali, Jazeel, Gooni, Jeeser, and Shillam. These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob seven persons in all. All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt who were his own descendants, not including Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all, and the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy. He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive. Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, My brothers and my father's household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me, and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have. When Pharaoh calls you and says, What is your occupation? You shall say, Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth, even until now, both we and our fathers, in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abode." A reading from the book of Psalms. But you, O Lord, do not be far off. O you, my help, come quickly to my aid. Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion. You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will tell of your names and my brothers, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you offspring of Jacob glorify him, and stand in awe of him. All you offspring of Israel. Where he has not despised or poured the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard when he cried to him. From you comes my praise and the great congregation. My vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nation shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him. It shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation. They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. A reading of the Gospel according to Mark. The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet. Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached saying, after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John and the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water immediately, he saw the heavens being torn open. And the spirit descending on him like a dove and a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved son with you. I am well pleased. The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little further, he saw James, the son of Zebedee and John, his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them and they left their father, Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. And they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit and he cried out, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him saying, be silent and come out of him. And the unclean spirit convulsing him, crying out with a loud voice came out of him. And they were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves saying, what is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up and the fever left her and she began to serve them. That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him. And rising very early in the morning while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place. And there he prayed and Simon and those who were with him searched for him and they found him and said to him, everyone is looking for you. And he said to them, let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also for that is why I came out. And he went throughout all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. And a leper came to him imploring him and kneeling said to him, if you will, you can make me clean. Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I will be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once and said to him, see that you say nothing to anyone but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded for a proof to them. But he went out and began to talk freely about it and to spread the news so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town but was out in desolate places and people were coming to him from every quarter.
