Bible Reading For January 20:  Genesis 47-48, Matthew 14:1-21

 Genesis 47
1Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they [are] in the land of Goshen.
2And he took some of his brethren, [even] five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
3And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What [is] your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants [are] shepherds, both we, [and] also our fathers.
4They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine [is] sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.
5And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
6The land of Egypt [is] before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest [any] men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
7And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old [art] thou?
9And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage [are] an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
10And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to [their] families.
13And [there was] no bread in all the land; for the famine [was] very sore, so that the land of Egypt and [all] the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
14And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
15And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
16And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
17And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread [in exchange] for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
18When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide [it] from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
19Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give [us] seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
20And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.
21And as for the people, he removed them to cities from [one] end of the borders of Egypt even to the [other] end thereof.
22Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion [assigned them] of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.
23Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, [here is] seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
24And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth [part] unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
25And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
26And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, [that] Pharaoh should have the fifth [part]; except the land of the priests only, [which] became not Pharaoh's.
27And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.
29And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
30But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
31And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.
 Genesis 48
1And it came to pass after these things, that [one] told Joseph, Behold, thy father [is] sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2And [one] told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee [for] an everlasting possession.
5And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, [are] mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, [and] shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
7And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet [there was] but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same [is] Bethlehem.
8And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who [are] these?
9And Joseph said unto his father, They [are] my sons, whom God hath given me in this [place]. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, [so that] he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
12And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought [them] near unto him.
14And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid [it] upon Ephraim's head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh [was] the firstborn.
15And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
16The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
18And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [is] the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19And his father refused, and said, I know [it], my son, I know [it]: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
20And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
 Matthew 14:1-21
1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus ,
2And said unto his servants , This is John the Baptist ; he is risen from the dead ; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him .
3For Herod had laid hold on John , and bound him , and put [him] in prison for Herodias' sake , his brother Philip's wife .
4For John said unto him , It is not lawful for thee to have her .
5And when he would have put him to death he feared the multitude , because they counted him as a prophet .
6But when Herod's birthday was kept the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod .
7Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask
8And she, being before instructed of her mother , said Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger .
9And the king was sorry nevertheless for the oath's sake , and them which sat with him at meat he commanded [it] to be given [her].
10And he sent and beheaded John in the prison .
11And his head was brought in a charger , and given to the damsel : and she brought [it] to her mother .
12And his disciples came and took up the body , and buried it , and went and told Jesus .
13When Jesus heard [of it], he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart and when the people had heard [thereof], they followed him on foot out of the cities .
14And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude , and was moved with compassion toward them , and he healed their sick .
15And when it was evening , his disciples came to him , saying This is a desert place , and the time is now past send the multitude away that they may go into the villages , and buy themselves victuals .
16But Jesus said unto them , They need not depart give ye them to eat
17And they say unto him , We have here but five loaves , and two fishes .
18He said Bring them hither to me .
19And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass , and took the five loaves , and the two fishes , and looking up to heaven , he blessed and brake and gave the loaves to [his] disciples , and the disciples to the multitude .
20And they did all eat and were filled and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full .
21And they that had eaten were about five thousand men , beside women and children .