Episode 2 When a Father Dies, Secrets Surface

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Welcome to the Moses Chronicles.

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You are listening to the Moses Chronicles Prelude book one,

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written by RR Wekesa and narrated by M McIntosh.

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Before the commandments and the wilderness, there was a promise

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in the sacred retelling of Genesis

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49 and 50, Joseph Greaves

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Brothers reckon and destinies begin to stir.

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The Exodus hasn't come, but the fault lines have formed.

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This is the story before the basket on the Nile,

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the quiet before slavery.

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Chapter one

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the final moments of Israel.

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Last sunrise.

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Dawn.

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Lay quiet over the camp.

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Morning mist curling in the cold air.

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The scent of damp earth mingled with smoke from dying embers.

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Beneath the heavy linen of Israel's tent.

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Stillness pressed in an unspoken expectancy.

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It was as though creation itself held its breath.

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Israel stirred in his bed,

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his once mighty frame reduced to frailty,

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his breath shallow yet his mind clear.

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His eyes dim with age, blinked slowly

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against the faint light seeping through the fabric walls.

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Shapes were blurred now more felt than seen.

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But he knew the sun was rising.

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He could feel its warmth edging closer.

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He had lived long enough to see his children prosper in Egypt,

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long enough to witness the miraculous return of Joseph,

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his son, whom he had once wept for believing him dead.

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Yet even as he lay in the land of Pharaoh,

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his heart longed for the land of his fathers.

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For the resting place of Abraham and Isaac, he knew today was the day.

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Smoke from early

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morning fires grow lazily into the sky,

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but the usual sounds of daily life, the laughter of children,

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the calls of servants, the clatter of clay pots were absent.

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The camp was still

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beyond them, standing in the distance like a reminder of a world

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both foreign and familiar, loomed the grand year of the Egyptian palace.

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There Joseph lived with his sons Ephraim and Manasseh,

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dressed in the fine linen of nobility.

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Israel's thoughts drifted like shifting sands.

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Rachel, his beloved Rachel,

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the ache of losing her on the road to Ephrathah still lingered in his bones.

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His heart cleansed as he remember the nights of longing,

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the whispered prayers, the silent grief.

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Leah, his steady Leah,

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whom he had buried in the land of his fathers.

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He had not loved her at first, but she had borne him

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many sons, and stood by him through years of hardship.

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And Rachel.

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Rachel had fought for his love with everything she had,

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just as Leah had fought to keep him close.

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He chuckled, the sound dry as dust.

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He remembered their arguments, their rivalry,

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even the absurd exchange of mandrakes

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the odd prize at which he had once been sold for a night.

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As his thoughts wandered further into the past.

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Another face emerged Esau, his brother,

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his twin, the one whom Elohim had not chosen.

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Had Esau truly hated him?

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Or had the years soften their wound?

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He thought of that day, that embrace

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that moment of unspoken forgiveness.

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There was no anger left in his heart.

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Only longing and hope.

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The sun crested the horizon.

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Bathing the camp in amber light.

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Israel closed his eyes and let the warmth touch his face.

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He was ready.

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The sound of quiet footsteps pulled him from his thoughts.

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Zilpah.

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She moved like a shadow, appearing

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beside him with a basin of warm water in her hand.

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Her face, lined with age, bore

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a familiar look of quiet disapproval.

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Why are you up so early?

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She asks, her voice carrying the sharpness of one

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who had cared for him for too long to be gentle.

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Israel turned to her, his expression unreadable.

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I must be ready, he murmured.

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Gather my sons.

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Today I go to my father's.

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Zilpah stiffened.

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The basin trembled in her hands, water sloshing over the edge.

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Her lips parted as if to speak, but no words came.

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The shock in her dark eyes gave way to something more profound.

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Uncertainty.

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Fear.

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For decades, she has served in this household, first as Leah's servant

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and then as a mother to his sons Gad and Asher.

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But what would happen now?

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Who would care for her?

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She had borne him children, yet she remained a servant.

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A woman with no standing among the tribes of Israel.

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She swallowed hard, pushing her fears aside.

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Wordlessly, she helped him back into the tent.

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Her hand steady as she led him to the back room, where the lamp burned low.

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She would do what she had always done.

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She would prepare him.

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The chamber was dimly lit, with the flickering light from oil

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lamps casting long shadows on the woven tapestries.

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The air was filled with the aroma of myrrh and frankincense,

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blended with the subtle, earthy musk of aged rush mats.

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One by one.

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The sons of Israel entered their heavy footsteps, muted by the thick,

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layered rugs.

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Reuben, firstborn,

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broad and solemn, stood at the head of the bed.

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His jaw set, his shoulders heavy with the weight of his father's past words.

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Silence envelops the chamber,

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interrupted only by the flickering of oil lamps

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that drew shifting shadows on the stone walls.

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Israel a week.

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His breath light.

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But his spirit was unwavering.

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His eyes, although faded by age, retained their clarity.

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And despite his frail movements, each action was filled with intent.

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This was a moment that could not be rushed.

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A proclamation that must be spoken before he was gathered to his father's.

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His son stood in solemn attention,

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summoned for one final blessing.

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Father's last words.

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Simeon and Levi

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stood side by side, their expressions unreadable.

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They had always moved as one.

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Their bond forged in the blood of shaken Judah, stood tall.

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His presence grounded as though he already bore the weight of leadership.

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The unspoken promise of kingship lingered in the room.

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Though no words had yet been spoken,

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the others followed.

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It's a God.

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Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher,

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each carrying the weight of their father's final words.

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Then came Joseph, draped in fine linen.

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His presence was unmistakable.

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He was no longer the boy thrown into the pit.

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No longer the slave in shackles.

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He was Nath, pioneer,

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second only to Pharaoh, ruler of all Egypt.

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Yet here, standing before his dying father,

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he was once again a son.

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And beside him stood his sons Ephraim and Manasseh.

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They were the youngest in the room, not yet in their 20s,

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but they carried themselves with the quiet strength of their father.

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They had been blessed

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once already, in private, just days before

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Israel had drawn Joseph aside, laying hands upon them,

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declaring their inheritance among the sons of Israel.

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But now this was different.

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Now, before all his sons

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Israel would speak aloud the destiny of each one.

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His voice, though weakened by age, remained steady.

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Gather clouds, he murmured, his gaze moving over them all.

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They obeyed, stepping nearer to the bedside.

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Near his feet, Diana knelt.

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Her fingers curled around his trembling hand.

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Silent tears slipped down her cheeks.

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Though she made no sound, Israel's

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gaze rested on in verse

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the blessings of the tribes.

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Reuben, the firstborn, but not the leader.

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Reuben.

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You are my firstborn.

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My might and the first fruits of my strength,

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preeminent in dignity and power.

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But you are as unstable as water.

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You shall not have preeminence.

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For you have defiled your father's bed.

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Reuben's head bowed,

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shame flickering in his eyes.

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Baela.

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His birthright was lost.

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Simeon and Levi, the brothers of wrath.

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Simeon and Levi are brothers.

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Weapons of violence are their swords.

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Let my soul not come into their counsel.

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For in their anger they slew men.

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And in their self-will they hamstrung

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oxen curse to be their anger.

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For it is fierce, and their wrath.

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For it is cruel.

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I will divide them in Jacob

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and scatter them in Israel.

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The room tensed.

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The massacre at him had not been forgotten.

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Judah, the lion of kingship.

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Then Israel's gaze fell upon Judah.

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Judah, your brothers shall praise you.

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Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies.

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Your father's sons shall bow before you.

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Judah is a lion's come.

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The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

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nor the ruler staff from between his

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feet until hielo comes

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a shift, a change in power.

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Judah had been chosen

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for Zebulun, the merchant of the sea.

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Seven shall dwell at the shore of the sea.

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He shall be a haven for ships.

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And his border shall be to sit down.

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Zebulon.

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Future would be tied to commerce and the sea.

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Issachar, the beast of burden.

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Is the car a strong donkey?

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Lying between the sheep folds.

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He saw that the land was good, and he rested his shoulders.

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He had the burden submitting

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to forced labor.

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He would be strong, but would serve others.

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Then the judge and the serpent.

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Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel,

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and then shall be a serpent by the road,

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a viper that bites the host his heels, so that his rider falls backward.

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Dan would bring justice, but also danger.

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Gad, the warrior

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raiders shall raid.

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Gad, but he shall raid at their heels.

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Gad would be a fierce defender.

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Asher, the provider of wealth.

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Asher's food shall be rich,

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and he shall yield royal delicacies.

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His tribe would be prosperous and provide for kings.

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Naphtali,

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the swift and beautiful.

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Naphtali is a dog

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let loose that bears beautiful thorns.

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A free spirit, swift and graceful.

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Joseph, the double blessing.

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Then Israel turned to Joseph,

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and the tenderness in his eyes was unmistakable.

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Joseph

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is a fruitful bough,

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a fruitful bough by a spring

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whose branches run over the wall.

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The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him,

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and harassed him severely,

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but his power remained strong,

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and the arms of his hands were made firm

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by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob.

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Joseph swallowed hard, gripping his father's frail hands.

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All the years of suffering, the betrayal, the pain,

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and it all led to this moment.

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And then Israel's gaze

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shifted to Ephraim and Manasseh.

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Joseph's sons no longer boys, but young men.

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Young men who now stood as equals among their uncles.

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Israel lifted a trembling hand, motioning for them to step forward.

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Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine,

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just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

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A shift, a change in inheritance.

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Reuben flinch, but he did not protest.

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He knew

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his place was lost.

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The blessings of your fathers shall surpass the blessings

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of the ancient mountains.

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The God of your father shall help you,

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and he shall bless you with blessings

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of the heavens above.

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It was done.

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Ephraim and Manasseh had been

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fully counted among the tribes of Israel.

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Joseph had been given a double portion.

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No one spoke.

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No, and argued.

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Israel exhaled

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his body, sinking into the linens.

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Slowly he drew his feet up into the bed,

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his hands falling still upon his chest, a single breath,

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and then he was gone.

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The weight of it all.

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The silence was deafening.

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Diana's shoulders shook as she clutched his lifeless hand.

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Joseph closed his eyes, his lips pressing into a tight line

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as he reached for his father's still fingers.

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His father, the man who had wrestled with God

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and prevailed, had breathed his last.

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The son who had been lost had returned,

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and now he would bury his father with honor.

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You've been listening to the Moses Chronicles Prelude,

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narrated by M McIntosh.

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To explore the full audiobook, purchase

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it in digital or printed form or discover companion writings,

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visit Moses chronicles.com for more sacred fiction.

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Until then, may the quiet still speak.