Genesis 50

Chapter 50

1 Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him.2 Then Joseph told the physicians who served him to embalm his father’s body; so Jacobt was embalmed.

3 The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.
4 When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said, “Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf.

5 Tell him that my father made me swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan, and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’ So please allow me to go and bury my father. After his burial, I will return without delay.”
6 Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and bury your father, as he made you promise,” he said.7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. He was accompanied by all of Pharaoh’s officials, all the senior members of Pharaoh’s household, and all the senior officers of Egypt.8 Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.

9 A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day period of mourning for Joseph’s father.

11 The local residents, the Canaanites, watched them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. Then they renamed that place (which is near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim,t for they said, “This is a place of deep mourning for these Egyptians.”
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them.

13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

14 After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial.

15 But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.
16 So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us17 to say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept.

18 Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said.
19 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you?20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

21 No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.

The Death of Joseph

22 So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110.

23 He lived to see three generations of descendants of his son Ephraim, and he lived to see the birth of the children of Manasseh’s son Makir, whom he claimed as his own.t

24 “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.”

26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

GENESIS 50

1 Joseph started crying, then leaned over to hug and kiss his father.
2 Joseph gave orders for Jacob's body to be embalmed,

3 and it took the usual 40 days.
The Egyptians mourned 70 days for Jacob. 4 When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the Egyptian leaders, “If you consider me your friend, please speak to the kingt for me.

5 t Just before my father died, he made me promise to bury him in his burial cave in Canaan. If the king will give me permission to go, I will come back here.”

6 The king answered, “Go to Canaan and keep your promise to your father.”

7-9 When Joseph left Goshen with his brothers, his relatives, and his father's relatives to bury Jacob, many of the king's highest officials and even his military chariots and cavalry went along. The Israelites left behind only their children, their cattle, and their sheep and goats.
10 After crossing the Jordan River, Joseph stopped at Atad's threshing place, where they all mourned and wept seven days for Jacob.

11 The Canaanites saw this and said, “The Egyptians are in great sorrow.” Then they named the place “Egypt in Sorrow.”t
12 So Jacob's sons did just as their father had instructed.

13 t They took him to Mamre in Canaan and buried him in Machpelah Cave, the burial place Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite.

14 After the funeral, Joseph, his brothers, and everyone else returned to Egypt.

Joseph's Promise //to His Brothers

15 After Jacob died, Joseph's brothers said to each other, “What if Joseph still hates us and wants to get even with us for all the cruel things we did to him?”

16 So they sent this message to Joseph:
Before our father died,

17 he told us, “You did some cruel and terrible things to Joseph, but you must ask him to forgive you.”
Now we ask you to please forgive the terrible things we did. After all, we serve the same God that your father worshiped.
When Joseph heard this, he started crying.

18 Right then, Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to the ground in front of him and said, “We are your slaves.”
19 But Joseph told them, “Don't be afraid! I have no right to change what God has decided. 20 You tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best, so that he could save all these people, as he is now doing.

21 Don't be afraid! I will take care of you and your children.” After Joseph said this, his brothers felt much better.

Joseph's Death

25 t Now promise me that you will take my body with you when God leads you to that land.”
26 So Joseph died in Egypt at the age of 110; his body was embalmed and put in a coffin.