Genesis 50

50Joseph threw himself on his father, crying and kissing his face. ²Then Joseph gave orders to embalm his father’s body. ³It took 40 days, the normal time for embalming. The Egyptians mourned for him 70 days.

⁴When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the king’s officials, “Please take this message to the king: ^5*‘When my father was about to die, he made me promise him that I would bury him in the tomb which he had prepared in the land of Canaan. So please let me go and bury my father, and then I will come back.’ ”

⁶The king answered, “Go and bury your father, as you promised you would.”

⁷So Joseph went to bury his father. All the king’s officials, the senior men of his court, and all the leading men of Egypt went with Joseph. ⁸His family, his brothers, and the rest of his father’s family all went with him. Only their small children and their sheep, goats, and cattle stayed in the region of Goshen. ⁹Men in chariots and men on horseback also went with him; it was a huge group.

¹⁰When they came to the threshing place at Atad east of the Jordan, they mourned loudly for a long time, and Joseph performed mourning ceremonies for seven days. ¹¹When the citizens of Canaan saw those people mourning at Atad, they said, “What a solemn ceremony of mourning the Egyptians are holding!” That is why the place was named Abel Mizraim.^k

¹²So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them; ^13*they carried his body to Canaan and buried it in the cave at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the field which Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial ground. ¹⁴After Joseph had buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him for the funeral.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

¹⁵After the death of their father, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still hates us and plans to pay us back for all the harm we did to him?” ¹⁶So they sent a message to Joseph: “Before our father died, ¹⁷he told us to ask you, ‘Please forgive the crime your brothers committed when they wronged you.’ Now please forgive us the wrong that we, the servants of your father’s God, have done.” Joseph cried when he received this message.

¹⁸Then his brothers themselves came and bowed down before him. “Here we are before you as your slaves,” they said.

¹⁹But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid; I can’t put myself in the place of God. ²⁰You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened. ²¹You have nothing to fear. I will take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them with kind words that touched their hearts.

The Death of Joseph

²²Joseph continued to live in Egypt with his father’s family; he was 110 years old when he died. ²³He lived to see Ephraim’s children and grandchildren. He also lived to receive the children of Machir son of Manasseh into the family. ²⁴He said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly take care of you and lead you out of this land to the land he solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” ^25*Then Joseph asked his people to make a vow. “Promise me,” he said, “that when God leads you to that land, you will take my body with you.” ²⁶So Joseph died in Egypt at the age of 110. They embalmed his body and put it in a coffin.