⁷So Joseph went up to bury his father. All of Pharaoh’s officials went with him. They were the important people of his court and all of the leaders of Egypt.

⁸All of Joseph’s family also went. His brothers and all of the rest of his father’s family went too. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen.

⁹Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large group.

¹⁰They came to the threshing floor of Atad. It was near the Jordan River. There they sobbed loudly and bitterly. Joseph set apart seven days of sadness to honor his father’s memory.

¹¹The people of Canaan who were living there saw how sad all of them were at the threshing floor of Atad. They said, “The Egyptians are having a very special service for the dead.” That’s why that place near the Jordan River is called Abel of the Egyptians.

¹²So Jacob’s sons did exactly as he had commanded them. ¹³They carried his body to the land of Canaan. They buried it in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre. Abraham had bought the cave as a place where he could bury his wife’s body. He had bought it from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field.

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