Genesis 50

Chapter 50

The Death of Israel

¹Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him.

²Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians ^aembalmed Israel.

³Now forty days were ¹required for ²it, for ³such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians ^awept for him seventy days.

⁴When the days of ¹mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak ²to Pharaoh, saying,

⁵‘^aMy father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave ^bwhich I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’ ”

⁶Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

⁸and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen.

⁹There also went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company.

¹⁰When they came to the ¹threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they ^alamented there with a very great and ²sorrowful lamentation; and he ³observed seven days mourning for his father.

¹¹Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at ¹the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a ²grievous ³mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named ⁴Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

Burial at Machpelah

¹²Thus his sons did for him as he had charged them;

¹³for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in ^athe cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field for a ¹burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

¹⁴After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “^aWhat if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!”

¹⁶So they ¹sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father charged before he died, saying,

¹⁷‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸Then his brothers also came and ^afell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

¹⁹But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place?

²⁰“As for you, ^ayou meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about ¹this present result, to preserve many people alive.

²¹“So therefore, do not be afraid; ^aI will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke ¹kindly to them.

Death of Joseph

²²Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.

²³Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were ^aborn on Joseph’s knees.

²⁴Joseph said to his brothers, “^aI am about to die, but God will surely ¹take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He ²promised on oath to ^bAbraham, to ^cIsaac and to ^dJacob.”

²⁵Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely ¹take care of you, and ^ayou shall carry my bones up from here.”

²⁶So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and ¹he was ^aembalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.