Genesis 50
50
1Joseph threw himself on his father’s body. He wept over him and kissed him. 2Then Joseph talked to the doctors who served him. He told them to prepare the body of his father Israel to be buried. So the doctors prepared it. 3They took 40 days to do it. They needed that much time to prepare a body in the right way. The Egyptians mourned for Jacob 70 days.
4After the days of sadness had passed, Joseph went to Pharaoh’s officials. He said to them, “If you are pleased with me, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, 5‘My father made me give my word to him. He said, “I’m about to die. Bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” So let me go there and bury my father. Then I’ll come back.’ ”
6Pharaoh said, “Go there and bury your father. Do what he made you promise to do.”
7So Joseph went to Canaan to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials went with him. They were the important people of his court and all the leaders of Egypt. 8Joseph’s family also went. His brothers and all the rest of his father’s family went. 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 Atad, a place where grain was processed. 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 Canaanites living in that area saw how sad all of them were. 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 the cave and the field from Ephron, the Hittite. 14After Joseph buried his father, he went back to Egypt. His brothers and all the others who had gone to help him bury his father went back with him.
Joseph Calms His Brothers’ Fears
15Now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers were worried. They said, “Remember all the bad things we did to Joseph? What if he decides to hold those things against us? What if he pays us back for them?” 16So they sent a message to Joseph. They said, “Your father gave us directions before he died. 17He said, ‘Here’s what you must say to Joseph. Tell him, “I’m asking you to forgive your brothers. Forgive the terrible things they did to you. Forgive them for treating you so badly.” ’ Now then, please forgive our sins. We serve the God of your father.” When their message came to Joseph, he wept.
18Then his brothers came and threw themselves down in front of him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
19But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Do you think I’m God? 20You planned to harm me. But God planned it for good. He planned to do what is now being done. He wanted to save many lives. 21So then, don’t be afraid. I’ll provide for you and your children.” He calmed their fears. And he spoke in a kind way to them.
Joseph Dies
22Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived 110 years. 23He lived long enough to see Ephraim’s children and grandchildren. When the children of Makir were born, they were placed on Joseph’s knees and counted as his own children. Makir was the son of Manasseh.
24Joseph said to his brothers, “I’m about to die. But God will surely come to help you. He’ll take you up out of this land. He’ll bring you to the land he promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” 25Joseph made the Israelites promise him. He said, “God will surely come to help you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place.”
26So Joseph died at the age of 110. They prepared his body to be buried. Then he was placed in a casket in Egypt.
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Genesis 50: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Genesis 50
50
1 Joseph, realizing this, fell upon his father's face, weeping and kissing him.
2 And he instructed his servant physicians to embalm his father with aromatics.
3 And while they were fulfilling his orders, forty days passed. For this was the method of embalming dead bodies. And Egypt wept for him for seventy days.
4 And when the time for mourning was fulfilled, Joseph spoke to the family of Pharaoh: "If I have found favor in your sight, speak to the ears of Pharaoh.
5 For my father made me swear, saying: 'See, I am dying. You shall bury me in my sepulcher which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.' Therefore, I shall go up and bury my father, and then return."
6 And Pharaoh said to him, "Go up and bury your father, just as he made you swear."
7 So as he went up, all the elders of the house of Pharaoh went with him, along with every patriarch in the land of Egypt,
8 and the house of Joseph with his brothers, except their little ones and flocks and also the herds, which they left behind in the land of Goshen.
9 Likewise, he had in his company chariots and horsemen. And it became a crowd without restraint.
10 And they arrived at the threshing place of Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan. There they spent seven full days celebrating the funeral rites with a great and vehement lamentation.
11 And when the inhabitants of the land of Canaan had seen this, they said, "This is a great Lamentation for the Egyptians." And for this reason, the name of that place was called, "The Lamentation of Egypt."
12 And so, the sons of Jacob did just as he had instructed them.
13 And carrying him into the land of Canaan, they buried him in the double cave, which Abraham had bought along with its field, from Ephron the Hittite, as a possession for burial, opposite Mamre.
14 And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brothers and all those of his company, having buried his father.
15 Now that he was dead, his brothers were afraid, and they said to one another: "Perhaps now he may remember the injury that he suffered and requite us for all the evil that we did to him."
16 So they sent a message to him, saying: "Your father instructed us before he died,
17 that we should say these words to you from him: 'I beg you to forget the wickedness of your brothers, and the sin and malice that they practiced against you.' Likewise, we petition you to release the servants of the God of your father from this iniquity." Hearing this, Joseph wept.
18 And his brothers went to him. And reverencing prostrate on the ground, they said, "We are your servants."
19 And he answered them: "Do not be afraid. Are we able to resist the will of God?
20 You devised evil against me. But God turned it into good, so that he might exalt me, just as you presently discern, and so that he might bring about the salvation of many peoples.
21 Do not be afraid. I will pasture you and your little ones." And he consoled them, and he spoke mildly and leniently.
22 And he lived in Egypt with all his father's house; and he survived for one hundred and ten years. And he saw the sons of Ephraim to the third generation. Likewise, the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born onto Joseph's knees.
23 After these things happened, he said to his brothers: "God will visit you after my death, and he will make you ascend from this land into the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
24 And when he had made them swear and had said, "God will visit you; carry my bones with you from this place,"
25 he died, having completed one hundred and ten years of his life. And having been embalmed with aromatics, he was laid to rest in a coffin in Egypt.
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