Genesis 49–50

Jacob Blesses His Sons

49Then 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.

⁴But 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.

⁶I 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.

⁷May 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.

⁹Judah 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.

¹⁰Kings 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.

¹¹He ties his donkey to a grapevine,

his young donkey to the best branch.

He can afford to use wine to wash his clothes

and the best wine to wash his robes.

¹²His 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 donkey

who lies down while carrying his load.

¹⁵When he sees his resting place is good

and how pleasant his land is,

he will put his back to the load

and become a slave.

¹⁶“Dan will rule his own people

like the other tribes in Israel.

¹⁷Dan 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.

²³Archers attack him violently

and shoot at him angrily,

²⁴but 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.

²⁵Your 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.

²⁶The 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.”

²⁸These 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. ²⁹Then 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. ³⁰That 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. ³¹Abraham and Sarah his wife are buried there. Isaac and Rebekah his wife are buried there, and I buried my wife Leah there. ³²The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittite people.” ³³After Jacob finished talking to his sons, he lay down. He put his feet back on the bed, took his last breath, and died.

Jacob’s Burial

50When Jacob died, Joseph hugged his father and cried over him and kissed him. ²He commanded the doctors who served him to prepare his father’s body, so the doctors prepared Jacob’s body to be buried. ³It 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.

⁴When 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.’ ”

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

⁷So 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. ⁸Everyone 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. ⁹They went with Joseph in chariots and on horses. It was a very large group.

¹⁰When 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. ¹¹The 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.

¹²So Jacob’s sons did as their father commanded. ¹³They 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. ¹⁴After 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

¹⁵After 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?” ¹⁶So they sent a message to Joseph that said, “Your father gave this command before he died. ¹⁷He 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.

¹⁸And his brothers went to him and bowed low before him and said, “We are your slaves.”

¹⁹Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Can I do what only God can do? ²⁰You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done. ²¹So don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” So Joseph comforted his brothers and spoke kind words to them.

²²Joseph continued to live in Egypt with all his father’s family. He died when he was one hundred ten years old. ²³During 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

²⁴Joseph 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.” ²⁵Then Joseph had the sons of Israel make a promise. He said, “Promise me that you will carry my bones with you out of Egypt.”

²⁶Joseph 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.