Genesis 50
50
Genesis 50
1¶ Then Joseph fell upon his father’s face and wept upon him and kissed him.
2And Joseph commanded his slaves, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel.
3And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke unto those of the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
5My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I die; in my grave which I have dug for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee and bury my father, and I will come again.
6And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.
7¶ Then Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the slaves of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8and all the house of Joseph and his brethren and his father’s house; only their little ones and their sheep and their cows, they left in the land of Goshen.
9And both chariots and horsemen went up with him, and it was a very great company.
10And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation; and Joseph made a mourning for his father seven days.
11And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a great mourning of the Egyptians; therefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
12And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them;
13for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
14And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
15¶ And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
16And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
17So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren and their sin, for they did unto thee evil; and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the slaves of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him.
18And his brethren also went and fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we are thy slaves.
19And Joseph said unto them, Fear not; for am I in the place of God?
20But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God thought it out unto good, to bring to pass that which we see this day, to give life to many people.
21Now therefore fear ye not; I will nourish you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke to their heart.
22¶ And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.
23And Joseph saw Ephraim’s sons unto the third generation; the sons also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.
24And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; but God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
25And Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from here.
26So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in an ark in Egypt.
The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Genesis 50
50
1Joseph threw himself on his father, crying and kissing his face. 2Then Joseph gave orders to embalm his father's body. 3It took forty days, the normal time for embalming. The Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the king's officials, “Please take this message to the king: 5#Gen 47.29–31‘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.#50.11 Abel Mizraim: This name sounds like the Hebrew for “mourning of the Egyptians”.
12So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them; 13#Acts 7.16they 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#Ex 13.19; Josh 24.32; Heb 11.22Then 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.
Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.