What the God of Jacob said through Joseph, we sing
In a psalm, accompanied by tambourine and shepherd’s harp.
New moon, full moon, blow the horn of Israel
Again. About the law:
When I sent Joseph down to Egypt
(Strange tongues spoken there)
I took his brothers off his shoulders,
Saved him from the chore pots.
He called, I answered him
With dreams. I answer you with thunder:
Split rocks gush bitter water.
Do not worship strangeness
In yourself or others’ glamour:
I led you out of Egypt, and will
Fill your mouth. Just open
When I speak: but no one listens.
Had they not loved the sound of their own voices,
Chosen lust, and meat, and hate,
I would have made them masters over all they met,
Would have fed them white bread milled from finest wheat,
Spread with honey from the rock.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…