Genesis 50
50
Lamentation for Jacob
1Joseph fell upon his father’s face, wept over him and kissed him.
2Then Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel.
3They took 40 days for him, because that is how long embalming takes, and Egypt wept 70 days.
4When the days of formal weeping passed, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s house saying, “If I’ve found favor in your eyes, please say in Pharaoh’s ears,
5“My father made me take an oath saying, ‘Behold, I am about to die. In my tomb—which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan—there you must bury me.’ So now, please allow me to go up and bury my father, and then return.”
6Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father just as he made you swear on oath.”
7So Joseph went up to bury his father. Also all of Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt went up with him,
8along with all of Joseph’s house, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and cattle were left in the land of Goshen.
9Chariots and horsemen also went up with him—it was a very impressive company.
10When they came to the threshing floor of the bramble on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there—a very great and solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father.
11When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning ritual at the threshing floor of the prickly bush, they said, “A solemn mourning ritual this is for the Egyptians.” That is why it is named Abel-Mizraim, which is on the other side of the Jordan.
12So Jacob’s sons did for him just as he commanded them.
13His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, the field that Abraham bought as a property for burial from Ephron the Hittite, next to Mamre.
14After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all those who went up with him to bury his father.
Joseph Comforts His Brothers
15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father had died, they said, “Maybe Joseph will be hostile towards us and pay us back in full for all the evil we showed him.
16So they charged Joseph saying, “Before his death, your father gave a command, saying,
17“Thus you must say to Joseph: ‘Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin because they treated you wrongly.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Then Joseph wept when they spoke to him,
18and his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your slaves!”
19But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. For am I in the place of God?
20Yes, you yourselves planned evil against me. God planned it for good, in order to bring about what it is this day—to preserve the lives of many people.
21So now, don’t be afraid. I myself will provide food for you and your little ones.” So he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.
22Joseph remained in Egypt—he and his father’s household—and Joseph lived 110 years.
23Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons. Also the sons of Machir, Manasseh’s son, were born upon Joseph’s knees.
24Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I’m about to die. But God will surely take notice of you and will bring you up from this land to the land that He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
25Then Joseph made Israel’s sons swear an oath saying, “When God takes notice of you, you will bring my bones up from here.”
26So Joseph died at 110 years old, and they embalmed him and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
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.