Genesis 46
46
God Assures Israel
1So Israel began his trip to Egypt. First he went to Beersheba. There he worshiped God, the God of his father Isaac. He offered sacrifices. 2During the night God spoke to Israel in a dream and said, “Jacob, Jacob.”
Israel answered, “Here I am.”
3Then God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt. In Egypt I will make you a great nation. 4I will go to Egypt with you, and I will bring you out of Egypt again. You will die there, but Joseph will be with you. His own hands will close your eyes when you die.”
Israel Goes to Egypt
5Then Jacob left Beersheba and traveled to Egypt. His sons, the sons of Israel, brought their father, their wives, and all their children to Egypt. They traveled in the wagons the Pharaoh had sent. 6They also had their cattle and everything they owned in the land of Canaan. So Israel went to Egypt with all his children and his family. 7With him were his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters. All of his family went with him.
The Family of Jacob (Israel)
8These are the names of Israel’s sons and family who went to Egypt with him:
Reuben was Jacob’s first son. 9Reuben’s sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10Simeon’s sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, and Zohar. There was also Shaul. (Shaul was born from a Canaanite woman.)
11Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12Judah’s sons were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (Er and Onan died while still in Canaan.) Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul.
13Issachar’s sons were Tola, Puah, Job, and Shimron.
14Zebulun’s sons were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun were Jacob’s sons from his wife Leah. Leah had these sons in Paddan Aram. She also had a daughter named Dinah. There were 33 people in this family.
16Gad’s sons were Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17Asher’s sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Also there were Beriah’s sons, Heber and Malkiel.
18All these were Jacob’s sons from his wife’s servant, Zilpah. (Zilpah was the maid that Laban had given to his daughter Leah.) There were 16 people in this family.
19Benjamin was also with Jacob. Benjamin was Jacob and Rachel’s son. (Joseph was also Rachel’s son, but he was already in Egypt.)
20In Egypt, Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. (Joseph’s wife was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest in the city of On.)
21Benjamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
22These were the sons of Jacob from his wife Rachel. There were 14 people in this family.
23Dan’s son was Hushim.
24Naphtali’s sons were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25These were the sons of Jacob and Bilhah. (Bilhah was the maid that Laban had given to his daughter Rachel.) There were seven people in this family.
26The total number of Jacob’s direct descendants who went with him to Egypt was 66 people. (The wives of Jacob’s sons were not counted in this number.) 27Also, Joseph had two sons in Egypt. With these two grandsons, Jacob’s family in Egypt numbered 70 people in all.
Israel Arrives in Egypt
28Jacob sent Judah ahead to speak to Joseph. Judah went to Joseph in the land of Goshen. Then Jacob and his people followed into the land. 29Joseph learned that his father was coming. So he prepared his chariot and went out to meet his father, Israel, in Goshen. When Joseph saw his father, he hugged his neck and cried for a long time.
30Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die in peace. I have seen your face, and I know that you are still alive.”
31Joseph said to his brothers and to the rest of his father’s family, “I will go and tell Pharaoh that you are here. I will say to Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and the rest of my father’s family have left the land of Canaan and have come here to me. 32They are a family of shepherds. They have always kept sheep and cattle. They have brought all their animals and everything they own with them.’ 33When Pharaoh calls you, he will ask, ‘What work do you do?’ 34You tell him, ‘We are shepherds. All our lives we have been shepherds, and our ancestors were shepherds before us.’ Then Pharaoh will allow you to live in the land of Goshen. Egyptians don’t like shepherds, so it is better that you stay in Goshen.”
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Genesis 46
46
1And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba; and he offered sacrifices to the God#GodHebrew: Elohim of his father Isaac. 2And God#GodHebrew: Elohim spoke to Israel in the visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob! And he said, Here am I. 3And he said, I am ·God#GodHebrew: El the God#GodHebrew: Elohim of thy father: fear not to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation. 4I will go down with thee to Egypt, and I will also certainly bring thee up; and Joseph shall put his hand on thine eyes.
5And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, on the waggons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6And they took their cattle, and their goods which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him; 7his sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters and all his seed he brought with him to Egypt. 8And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt: Jacob and his sons. Jacob's firstborn, Reuben. 9And the sons of Reuben: Enoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi. 10— And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Saul the son of a Canaanitish woman. 11— And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12— And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pherez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pherez were Hezron and Hamul. 13— And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puah, and Job, and Shimron. 14— And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. 15— These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan-Aram; and his daughter, Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three. 16And the sons of Gad: Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli. 17— And the sons of Asher: Jimnah, and Jishvah, and Jishvi, and Beriah; and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18— These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and she bore these to Jacob: sixteen souls. 19The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asnath bore to him, the daughter of Potipherah the priest in On. 21— And the sons of Benjamin: Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. 22— These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. 23And the sons of Dan: Hushim. 24— And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. 25— These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter; and she bore these to Jacob: all the souls were seven. 26All the souls that came with Jacob to Egypt, that had come out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives: all the souls were sixty-six. 27And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob that came to Egypt were seventy.
28And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to give notice before he came to Goshen. And they came into the land of Goshen. 29Then Joseph yoked his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and he presented himself to him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 30And Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, after I have seen thy face, since thou still livest. 31And Joseph said to his brethren and to his father's house, I will go up, and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, My brethren and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, are come to me; 32and the men are shepherds, for they have been occupied with cattle; and they have brought their sheep, and their cattle, and all that they have. 33And it shall come to pass that when Pharaoh shall call you and say, What is your occupation? 34then ye shall say, Thy servants are men that have been occupied with cattle from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers; in order that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.