Genesis 46

Joseph Brings His Family to Egypt

1So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to #ch. 21:31, 33; 26:33; 28:10 Beersheba, and offered sacrifices #ch. 26:24, 25; 28:13; 31:42to the God of his father Isaac. 2And God spoke to Israel #ch. 15:1; Job 33:14, 15in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3Then he said, “I am God, #ch. 28:13 the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will #ch. 35:11; [ch. 12:2; Ex. 1:7, 9; Deut. 26:5]make you into a great nation. 4I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also #ch. 15:16; 28:15; 48:21; 50:24; Ex. 3:8 bring you up again, and #ch. 50:1Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”

5Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons #ch. 45:19, 21, 27that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and #Josh. 24:4; Ps. 105:23; Isa. 52:4; Acts 7:14, 15came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

8 # For ver. 8-11, see Ex. 6:14-16 Now #Ex. 1:1-5 these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. #Num. 26:5; 1 Chr. 5:1-3Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, 9and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11The sons of #1 Chr. 6:1Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12The sons of #1 Chr. 2:3; 4:21 Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but #ch. 38:3, 7, 10 Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of #ch. 38:29; 1 Chr. 2:5Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13#1 Chr. 7:1The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15These are the sons of Leah, #See ch. 29:32-35; 30:1-21whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

16The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17#1 Chr. 7:30The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18#See ch. 30:10-13 These are the sons of Zilpah, #ch. 29:24whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.

19The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20And #ch. 41:50-52 to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of #ch. 41:45On, bore to him. 21And #See Num. 26:38-40; 1 Chr. 7:6-12; 8:1the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.

23The son#46:23 Hebrew sons of Dan: Hushim. 24#1 Chr. 7:13The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25#See ch. 30:5-8 These are the sons of Bilhah, #ch. 29:29whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.

26All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. #Ex. 1:5; Deut. 10:22; [Acts 7:14]All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

Jacob and Joseph Reunited

28He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came #See ch. 45:10into the land of Goshen. 29Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and #[ch. 45:14]fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30Israel said to Joseph, #[Luke 2:29, 30]“Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 31Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, #ch. 47:1“I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32#ch. 47:3And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33When Pharaoh calls you and says, #[See ver. 32 above]‘What is your occupation?’ 34you shall say, #[See ver. 32 above] ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock #ch. 37:12 from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell #ver. 28 in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is #ch. 43:32; Ex. 8:26an abomination to the Egyptians.”

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Genesis 46

Jacob’s [Israel’s] Seventh Encounter with God

1Israel moved with all he had. When he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

2God spoke to Israel in a vision that night and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

3“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt, because I will make you a great nation there. 4I will go with you to Egypt, and I will make sure you come back again. Joseph will close your eyes ⌞when you die⌟.”

5So Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons put their father Jacob, their children, and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to bring him back. 6They also took their livestock and the possessions they had accumulated in Canaan.

Jacob and all his family arrived in Egypt. 7He had brought his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters—his entire family.

Jacob’s [Israel’s] Descendants

(Exodus 6:14–16; 1 Chronicles 2:3–5)

8These are the names of Israel’s descendants (Jacob and his descendants) who arrived in Egypt.

Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn.

9The sons of Reuben were

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

10The sons of Simeon were

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.

11The sons of Levi were

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

12The sons of Judah were

Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (Er and Onan had died in Canaan.)

The sons of Perez were

Hezron and Hamul.

13The sons of Issachar were

Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron.

14The sons of Zebulun were

Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

15These were the descendants of the sons Leah gave to Jacob in Paddan Aram, in addition to his daughter Dinah. The total number of these sons and daughters was 33.

16The sons of Gad were

Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

17The sons of Asher were

Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah. Their sister was Serah.

The sons of Beriah were

Heber and Malchiel.

18These were the descendants of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah. She gave birth to these children for Jacob. The total was 16.

19The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were

Joseph and Benjamin.

20In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph by Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest from the city of On.

21The sons of Benjamin were

Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

22These were the descendants of Rachel who were born to Jacob. The total was 14.

23The son of Dan was

Hushim.

24The sons of Naphtali were

Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

25These were the descendants of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. She gave birth to these sons for Jacob. The total was 7.

26The total number of Jacob’s direct descendants who went with him to Egypt was 66. This didn’t include the wives of Jacob’s sons. 27Joseph had two sons who were born in Egypt. The grand total of people in Jacob’s household who went to Egypt was 70.

Joseph and Jacob [Israel] Reunited

28Israel sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When Israel’s family arrived in the region of Goshen, 29Joseph prepared his chariot and went to meet his father Israel. As soon as he saw his father, he threw his arms around him and cried on his shoulder a long time.

30Israel said to Joseph, “Now that I’ve seen for myself that you’re still alive, I’m ready to die.”

31Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s family, “I’m going to Pharaoh to tell him, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, who were in Canaan, have come to me. 32The men are shepherds. They take care of livestock. They’ve brought their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ 33Now, when Pharaoh calls for you and asks, ‘What kind of work do you do?’ 34you must answer, ‘We have taken care of herds all our lives, as our ancestors have done.’ ⌞You must say this⌟ so that you may live in the region of Goshen, because all shepherds are disgusting to Egyptians.”

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