Genesis 50

CHAPTER 50

1Which thing Joseph saw, and he fell on his father’s face, and wept, and kissed him;

2and he commanded his servants, leeches, that they should anoint his father with sweet smelling spiceries.

3While they fulfilled his behests, forty days passed, for this was the custom of dead bodies that were anointed; and Egypt bewept him seventy days.

4And when the time of wailing was fulfilled, Joseph spake to the meine of Pharaoh, If I have found grace in your sight, speak ye in the ears of Pharaoh;

5for my father charged me [with an oath], and said, Lo! I die; thou shalt bury me in my sepulchre which I digged to me in the land of Canaan; therefore I shall go up that I bury my father, and I shall turn again.

6And Pharaoh said to him, Go up, and bury thy father, as thou art charged.

7And when Joseph went up, all the elder men of the household of Pharaoh went with him, and all the greater men in birth of the land of Egypt;

8 and all the household of Joseph with their brethren, without little children, and flocks, and great beasts, which they left in the land of Goshen, went with him.

9And he had chariots, and horse-men, and fellowship with him, and the company was made not little.

10And they came to the cornfloor of Atad, which is set over Jordan, where they made the service of the dead body, with great wailing and strong, and filled seven days.

11And when the dwellers of the land of Canaan had seen this, they said, This is a time of great wailing to the Egyptians; therefore they called the name of that place The wailing of Egypt.

12Therefore the sons of Jacob did, as he had commanded to them;

13and they bare him into the land of Canaan, and they buried him in the double den, which den with the field Abraham had bought of Ephron the Hittite, against the face of Mamre, into possession of a sepulchre.

14And Joseph turned again into Egypt with his brethren and all the fellowship, when his father was buried.

15And when their father was dead, the brethren of Joseph dreaded, and spake together, Lest peradventure he be mindful of the wrong which he suffered, and yield to us all the evil, that we did.

16And they sent to him, and said, Thy father commanded to us, before that he died,

17that we should say to thee these things by his words; I beseech thee, that thou forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin, and [the] malice that they haunted against thee; also we pray thee, that thou forgive this wickedness which we did to thy father, the servant of God. When these things were heard, Joseph wept.

18And his brethren came to him, and worshipped low to the earth, and said, We be thy servants.

19To which he answered, Do not ye dread; whether we may against-stand God’s will?

20Ye thought evil of me, and God turned it into good, that he should enhance me, as ye see in this present time, and that he should make safe many peoples;

21do not ye dread, I shall feed you and your little children. And he comforted them, and spake sweetly and lightly to them;

22and Joseph dwelled in Egypt, with all the house of his father. And he lived an hundred [and ten] years,

23and he saw the sons of Ephraim till to the third generation; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were borne in the knees of Joseph.

24When these things were done, Joseph spake to his brethren, After my death God shall visit you, and he shall make you to go up from this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

25And when Joseph had charged them with an oath, and had said, God shall visit you, bear ye out with you my bones from this place;

26he died, when an hundred and ten years of his life were filled; and he was anointed with sweet smelling spiceries, and he was kept in a bier in Egypt.

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Genesis 50

1Joseph fell across his father’s body, wept over him, and kissed him. 2Joseph then ordered the physicians in his service to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel. 3They mourned for him forty days because that is the period required for embalming. Then the Egyptians mourned him for seventy days. 4After the period of mourning had passed, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s household: “If you approve my request, give Pharaoh this message: 5My father made me promise, telling me, ‘I’m about to die. You must bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Now, let me leave and let me bury my father, and then I will return.”

6Pharaoh replied, “Go, bury your father as you promised.”

7So Joseph left to bury his father. All of Pharaoh’s servants went with him, together with the elder statesmen in his household and all of the elder statesmen in the land of Egypt, 8Joseph’s entire household, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only the children, flocks, and cattle remained in the land of Goshen. 9Even chariots and horsemen went with him; it was a huge collection of people. 10When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad on the other side of the Jordan River, they observed a solemn, deeply sorrowful period of mourning. He grieved seven days for his father.

11When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw the observance of grief on Atad’s threshing floor, they said, “This is a solemn observance of grief by the Egyptians.” Therefore, its name is Abel-mizraim.#50.11 Or the Egyptians’ observance of grief It is on the other side of the Jordan River. 12Israel’s sons did for him just as he had ordered. 13His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased as burial property from Ephron the Hittite. 14Then#50.14 LXX; MT includes after he buried his father. Joseph returned to Egypt, he, his brothers, and everyone who left with him to bury his father.

Joseph and his brothers in Egypt

15When Joseph’s brothers realized that their father was now dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us, and wants to pay us back seriously for all of the terrible things we did to him?” 16So they approached#50.16 LXX, Syr; MT they commanded Joseph and said, “Your father gave orders before he died, telling us, 17‘This is what you should say to Joseph. “Please, forgive your brothers’ sins and misdeeds, for they did terrible things to you. Now, please forgive the sins of the servants of your father’s God.”’” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

18His brothers wept#50.18 Or came too, fell down in front of him, and said, “We’re here as your slaves.”

19But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I God? 20You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it, in order to save the lives of many people, just as he’s doing today. 21Now, don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” So he put them at ease and spoke reassuringly to them.

22Thus Joseph lived in Egypt, he and his father’s household. Joseph lived 110 years 23and saw Ephraim’s grandchildren. The children of Machir, Manasseh’s son, were also born on Joseph’s knees. 24Joseph said to his brothers, “I’m about to die. God will certainly take care of you and bring you out of this land to the land he promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25Joseph made Israel’s sons promise, “When God takes care of you, you must bring up my bones out of here.” 26Joseph died when he was 110 years old. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

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