Genesis 49

Jacob Blesses His Sons

1 Then Jacob called his sons to him. He said, “Come here to me, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the future.

2 
“Come together and listen, sons of Jacob.
Listen to Israel, your father.”

3 
“Reuben, my first son, you are my strength.
Your birth showed I could be a father.
You have the highest position among my sons,
and you are the most powerful.

4 
But you are uncontrolled like water,
so you will no longer lead your brothers.
This is because you got into your father’s bed
and shamed me by having sexual relations with my slave girl.

5 
“Simeon and Levi are brothers
who used their swords to do violence.

6 
I will not join their secret talks,
and I will not meet with them to plan evil.
They killed men because they were angry,
and they crippled oxen just for fun.

7 
May their anger be cursed, because it is too violent.
May their violence be cursed, because it is too cruel.
I will divide them up among the tribes of Jacob
and scatter them through all the tribes of Israel.

8 
“Judah, your brothers will praise you.
You will grab your enemies by the neck,
and your brothers will bow down to you.

9 
Judah is like a young lion.
You have returned from killing, my son.
Like a lion, he stretches out and lies down to rest,
and no one is brave enough to wake him.10 Kings will come from Judah’s family;someone from Judah will always be on the throne.Judah will rule until Shiloh comes,and the nations will obey him.11 He ties his donkey to a grapevine,his young donkey to the best branch.He can afford to use wine to wash his clothesand the best wine to wash his robes.12 His eyes are dark like the color of wine,and his teeth are as white as the color of milk.13 “Zebulun will live near the sea.His shore will be a safe place for ships,and his land will reach as far as Sidon.14 “Issachar is like a strong donkeywho lies down while carrying his load.15 When he sees his resting place is goodand how pleasant his land is,he will put his back to the loadand become a slave.16 “Dan will rule his own peoplelike the other tribes in Israel.17 Dan will be like a snake by the side of the road,a dangerous snake lying near the path.That snake bites a horse’s leg,and the rider is thrown off backward.18 “Lord, I wait for your salvation.19 “Robbers will attack Gad,but he will defeat them and drive them away.

20 
“Asher’s land will grow much good food;
he will grow food fit for a king.

21 
“Naphtali is like a female deer that runs free,
that has beautiful fawns.

22 
“Joseph is like a grapevine that produces much fruit,
a healthy vine watered by a spring,
whose branches grow over the wall.

23 
Archers attack him violently
and shoot at him angrily,

24 
but he aims his bow well.
His arms are made strong.
He gets his power from the Mighty God of Jacob
and his strength from the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.

25 
Your father’s God helps you.
God Almighty blesses you.
He blesses you with rain from above,
with water from springs below,
with many babies born to your wives,
and many young ones born to your animals.

26 
The blessings of your father are greater
than the blessings of the oldest mountains,
greater than the good things of the long-lasting hills.
May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph,
on the forehead of the one who was separated from his brothers.

27 
“Benjamin is like a hungry wolf.
In the morning he eats what he has caught,
and in the evening he divides what he has taken.”

28 
These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them. He gave each son the blessing that was right for him.29 Then Israel gave them a command and said, “I am about to die. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.30 That cave is in the field of Machpelah east of Mamre in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought the field and cave from Ephron the Hittite for a burying place.31 Abraham and Sarah his wife are buried there. Isaac and Rebekah his wife are buried there, and I buried my wife Leah there.32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittite people.”33 After Jacob finished talking to his sons, he lay down. He put his feet back on the bed, took his last breath, and died.

Genesis 50

Jacob’s Burial

1 When Jacob died, Joseph hugged his father and cried over him and kissed him.2 He commanded the doctors who served him to prepare his father’s body, so the doctors prepared Jacob’s body to be buried.3 It took the doctors forty days to prepare his body (the usual time it took). And the Egyptians had a time of sorrow for Jacob that lasted seventy days.

4 
When this time of sorrow had ended, Joseph spoke to the king’s officers and said, “If you think well of me, please tell this to the king:5 ‘When my father was near death, I made a promise to him that I would bury him in a cave in the land of Canaan, in a burial place that he cut out for himself. So please let me go and bury my father, and then I will return.’ ”

6 
The king answered, “Keep your promise. Go and bury your father.”

7 
So Joseph went to bury his father. All the king’s officers, the elders of his court, and all the elders of Egypt went with Joseph.8 Everyone who lived with Joseph and his brothers went with him, as well as everyone who lived with his father. They left only their children, their flocks, and their herds in the land of Goshen.9 They went with Joseph in chariots and on horses. It was a very large group.10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they cried loudly and bitterly for his father. Joseph’s time of sorrow continued for seven days.11 The people that lived in Canaan saw the sadness at the threshing floor of Atad and said, “Those Egyptians are showing great sorrow!” So now that place is named Sorrow of the Egyptians.12 So Jacob’s sons did as their father commanded.13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried it in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre. Abraham had bought this cave and field from Ephron the Hittite to use as a burial place.14 After Joseph buried his father, he returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and everyone who had gone with him to bury his father.

The Brothers Fear Joseph

15 After Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph is still angry with us? We did many wrong things to him. What if he plans to pay us back?”16 So they sent a message to Joseph that said, “Your father gave this command before he died.17 He said to us, ‘You have done wrong and have sinned and done evil to Joseph. Tell Joseph to forgive you, his brothers.’ So now, Joseph, we beg you to forgive our wrong. We are the servants of the God of your father.” When Joseph received the message, he cried.18 And his brothers went to him and bowed low before him and said, “We are your slaves.”19 Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Can I do what only God can do?20 You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done.21 So don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” So Joseph comforted his brothers and spoke kind words to them.

22 
Joseph continued to live in Egypt with all his father’s family. He died when he was one hundred ten years old.23 During Joseph’s life Ephraim had children and grandchildren, and Joseph’s son Manasseh had a son named Makir. Joseph accepted Makir’s children as his own.

The Death of Joseph

24 

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will take care of you. He will lead you out of this land to the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”25 Then Joseph had the sons of Israel make a promise. He said, “Promise me that you will carry my bones with you out of Egypt.”

26 
Joseph died when he was one hundred ten years old. Doctors prepared his body for burial, and then they put him in a coffin in Egypt.

Exodus 1

Jacob’s Family Grows Strong

1 When Jacob went to Egypt, he took his sons, and each son took his own family with him. These are the names of the sons of Israel:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,3 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.5 There was a total of seventy people who were descendants of Jacob. Jacob’s son Joseph was already in Egypt.

6 
Some time later, Joseph and his brothers died, along with all the people who had lived at that same time.7 But the people of Israel had many children, and their number grew greatly. They became very strong, and the country of Egypt was filled with them.

Trouble for the People of Israel

8 

Then a new king began to rule Egypt, who did not know who Joseph was.9 This king said to his people, “Look! The people of Israel are too many and too strong for us to handle!10 If we don’t make plans against them, the number of their people will grow even more. Then if there is a war, they might join our enemies and fight us and escape from the country!”11 So the Egyptians made life hard for the Israelites. They put slave masters over them, who forced the Israelites to build the cities Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.12 But the harder the Egyptians forced the Israelites to work, the more the Israelites grew in number and spread out. So the Egyptians became very afraid of them13 and demanded even more of them.14 They made their lives bitter. They forced the Israelites to work hard to make bricks and mortar and to do all kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians were not merciful to them in all their painful work.15 Two Hebrew nurses, named Shiphrah and Puah, helped the Israelite women give birth to their babies. The king of Egypt said to the nurses,16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth to their babies, watch! If the baby is a girl, let her live, but if it is a boy, kill him!”17 But the nurses feared God, so they did not do as the king told them; they let all the boy babies live.18 Then the king of Egypt sent for the nurses and said, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the boys live?”19 The nurses said to him, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can get there.”20 God was good to the nurses. And the Hebrew people continued to grow in number, so they became even stronger.21 Because the nurses feared God, he gave them families of their own.

22 
So the king commanded all his people, “Every time a boy is born to the Hebrews, you must throw him into the Nile River, but let all the girl babies live.”