47 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth 1abundantly.
48 So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them.
49 Joseph gathered very much grain, aas the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.
50 aAnd to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn 1Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my *toil and all my afather’s house.”
52 And the name of the second he called 1Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be afruitful in the land of my affliction.”
53 Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended,
54 aand the seven years of famine began to come, bas Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; awhatever he says to you, do.”
56 The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened 1all the storehouses and asold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt.
57 aSo all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to bbuy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
1 When aJacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”
2 And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may alive and not die.”
3 So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, a“Lest some calamity befall him.”
5 And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was ain the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was governor aover the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bbowed down before him with their faces to the earth.
7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as aa stranger to them and spoke 1roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
9 Then Joseph aremembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the 1nakedness of the land!”
10 And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
11 “We are all *one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.”
12 But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
13 And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one ais no more.”
14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’
15 “In this manner you shall be tested: aBy the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
16 “Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be 1kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!”
17 So he 1put them all together in prison athree days.
18 Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, afor I fear God:
19 “If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses.
20 “And abring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.
21 Then they said to one another, a“We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; btherefore this distress has come upon us.”
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, a“Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now brequired of us.”
23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
24 And he turned himself away from them and awept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took bSimeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
The Brothers Return to Canaan
25 Then Joseph agave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to brestore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. cThus he did for them.
26 So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.
27 But as aone of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack.
28 So he said to his brothers, “My money has been *restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts 1failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying:
30 “The man who is lord of the land aspoke 1roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 “But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
32 ‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’
33 “Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, a‘By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone.
34 ‘And bring your ayoungest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may btrade in the land.’ ”
35 Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly aeach man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have abereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take bBenjamin. All these things are against me.”
37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”
38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for ahis brother is dead, and he is left alone. bIf any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would cbring down my gray hair with sorrow to the *grave.”
Joseph’s Brothers Return with Benjamin
1 Now the famine was asevere in the land.
2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go aback, buy us a little food.”
3 But Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your abrother is with you.’
4 “If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.
5 “But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”
6 And Israel said, “Why did you deal so 1wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?”
7 But they said, “The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”
8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may alive and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
9 “I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. aIf I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
10 “For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.”
11 And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and acarry down a present for the man—a little bbalm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.
12 “Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money athat was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.
13 “Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man.
14 “And may God aAlmighty bgive you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. cIf I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”
15 So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went adown to Egypt; and they stood before Joseph.
16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the asteward of his house, “Take these men to my home, and slaughter 1an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon.”
17 Then the man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.
18 Now the men were aafraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may 1make a case against us and seize us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys.”
19 When they drew near to the steward of Joseph’s house, they talked with him at the door of the house,
20 and said, “O sir, awe indeed came down the first time to buy food;
21 “but ait happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand.
22 “And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.”
23 But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought aSimeon out to them.
24 So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and agave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed.
25 Then they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there.
26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and abowed down before him to the earth.
27 Then he asked them about their well-being, and said, “Is your father well, the old man aof whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”
28 And they answered, “Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive.” aAnd they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves.
29 Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, ahis mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother bof whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “God be *gracious to you, my son.”
30 Now ahis heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and bwept there.
31 Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, “Serve the abread.”
32 So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the aHebrews, for that is ban abomination to the Egyptians.
33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his abirthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another.
34 Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s serving was afive times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.
Joseph’s Cup
1 And he commanded 1the asteward of his house, saying, b“Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.
2 “Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money.” So he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3 As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you arepaid evil for good?
5 ‘Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.’ ”
6 So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.
7 And they said to him, “Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing.
8 “Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan athe money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?
9 “With whomever of your servants it is found, alet him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”
10 And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless.”
11 Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.
12 So he searched. He began with the oldest and 1left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
13 Then they atore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.
14 So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there; and they afell before him on the ground.
15 And Joseph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?”
16 Then Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has afound out the iniquity of your servants; here bwe are, my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”
17 But he said, a“Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
Judah Intercedes for Benjamin
18 Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and ado not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh.
19 “My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’
20 “And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and aa child of his old age, who is young; his brother is bdead, and he calone is left of his mother’s children, and his dfather loves him.’
21 “Then you said to your servants, a‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’
22 “And we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’
23 “But you said to your servants, a‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’
24 “So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord.
25 “And aour father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’
26 “But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that amy wife bore me two sons;
28 ‘and the one went out from me, and I said, a“Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since.
29 ‘But if you atake this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’
30 “Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since ahis life is bound up in the lad’s life,
31 “it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
32 “For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, a‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’
33 “Now therefore, please alet your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.
34 “For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would 1come upon my father?”
Joseph Revealed to His Brothers
1 Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him awhile Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 And he awept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it.
3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, a“I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence.
4 And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, awhom you sold into Egypt.
5 “But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; afor God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 “For these two years the afamine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
7 “And God asent me before you to preserve a 1posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 “So now it was not you who sent me here, but aGod; and He has made me ba father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a cruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9 “Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not 1tarry.
10 a“You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have.
11 “There I will aprovide* for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine.” ’
12 “And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is amy mouth that speaks to you.
13 “So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hurry and abring my father down here.”
14 Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.
15 Moreover he akissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.
16 Now the report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” So it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well.
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and depart; go to the land of Canaan.
18 ‘Bring your father and your households and come to me; I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat athe 1fat of the land.
19 ‘Now you are commanded—do this: Take carts out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives; bring your father and come.
20 ‘Also do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”
21 Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them acarts,1 according to the command of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey.
22 He gave to all of them, to each man, achanges of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and bfive changes of garments.
23 And he sent to his father these things: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey.
24 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them, “See that you do not become troubled along the way.”
25 Then they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father.
26 And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” aAnd Jacob’s heart stood still, because he did not believe them.
27 But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit aof Jacob their father revived.
28 Then Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
Jacob’s Journey to Egypt
1 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to aBeersheba, and offered sacrifices bto the God of his father Isaac.
2 Then God spoke to Israel ain the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.”
3 So He said, “I am God, athe God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will bmake of you a great nation there.
4 a“I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bbring you up again; and cJoseph 1will put his hand on your eyes.”
5 Then aJacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the 1carts bwhich Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6 So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, aJacob and all his descendants with him.
7 His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
8 Now athese were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: bReuben was Jacob’s firstborn.
9 The asons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 aThe sons of Simeon were 1Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, 2Jachin, 3Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 The sons of aLevi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 The sons of aJudah were bEr, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). cThe sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 The sons of Issachar were Tola, 1Puvah, 2Job, and Shimron.
14 The asons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These were the asons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.
16 The sons of Gad were 1Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, 2Ezbon, Eri, 3Arodi, and Areli.
17 aThe sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel.
18 aThese were the sons of Zilpah, bwhom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.
19 The asons of Rachel, bJacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin.
20 aAnd to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
21 aThe sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, bEhi, Rosh, cMuppim, 1Huppim, and Ard.
22 These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all.
23 The son of Dan was 1Hushim.
24 aThe sons of Naphtali were 1Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and 2Shillem.
25 aThese were the sons of Bilhah, bwhom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all.
26 aAll the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, bbesides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all.
27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. aAll the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
Jacob Settles in Goshen
28 Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, ato point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came bto the land of Goshen.
29 So Joseph made ready his achariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and bfell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, a“Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”
31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, a“I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.
32 ‘And the men are ashepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’
33 “So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, a‘What is your occupation?’
34 “that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ aoccupation has been with livestock bfrom our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is can1 abomination to the Egyptians.”
1 Then Joseph awent and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in bthe land of Goshen.”
2 And he took five men from among his brothers and apresented them to Pharaoh.
3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, a“What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, b“Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”
4 And they said to Pharaoh, a“We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, bfor the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants cdwell in the land of Goshen.”
5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
6 a“The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell bin the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob ablessed Pharaoh.
8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, a“The days of the years of my 1pilgrimage are bone hundred and thirty years; cfew and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and dthey have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”
10 So Jacob ablessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of aRameses, bas Pharaoh had commanded.
12 Then Joseph provided ahis father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.
Joseph Deals with the Famine
13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, aso that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.
14 aAnd Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
15 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for awhy should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.”
16 Then Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.”
17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he 1fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
19 “Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may alive and not die, that the land may not be desolate.”
20 Then Joseph abought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s.
21 And as for the people, he 1moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.
22 aOnly the land of the bpriests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall *sow the land.
24 “And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”
25 So they said, “You have saved aour lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”
26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, aexcept for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.
Joseph’s Vow to Jacob
27 So Israel adwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and bgrew and multiplied exceedingly.
28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.
29 When the time adrew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please bput your hand under my thigh, and cdeal kindly and truly with me. dPlease do not bury me in Egypt,
30 “but alet me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bbury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.”
31 Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So aIsrael bowed himself on the head of the bed.
Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons
1 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, aManasseh and Ephraim.
2 And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel 1strengthened* himself and sat up on the bed.
3 Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God aAlmighty* appeared to me at bLuz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
4 “and said to me, ‘Behold, I will amake you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and bgive this land to your descendants after you cas an everlasting possession.’
5 “And now your atwo sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6 “Your 1offspring 2whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
7 “But as for me, when I came from Padan, aRachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
8 Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”
9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and aI will bless them.”
10 Now athe eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he bkissed them and embraced them.
11 And Israel said to Joseph, a“I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!”
12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth.
13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him.
14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and alaid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, bguiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the cfirstborn.
15 And ahe blessed Joseph, and said:
“God, bbefore whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16 The Angel awho has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
Let bmy name be named upon them,
And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And let them cgrow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
17 Now when Joseph saw that his father alaid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, a“I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly bhis younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, a“By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but aGod will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
22 “Moreover aI have given to you one 1portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand bof the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”
Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons
1 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may atell you what shall befall you bin the last days:
2 “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,
And listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are amy firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you awent up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—
He went up to my couch.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of 1cruelty are in their dwelling place.
6 aLet not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united bto their *assembly;
cFor in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they 1hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
aI will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah,a you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
bYour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
cYour father’s children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is aa lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
bHe 1bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
10 aThe 1scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor ba lawgiver from between his feet,
cUntil Shiloh comes;
dAnd to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “Zebuluna shall dwell by the haven of the sea;
He shall become a haven for ships,
And his border shall badjoin Sidon.
14 “Issachara is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
15 He saw that *rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant;
He bowed ahis shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of *slaves.
16 “Dana shall judge his people
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17 aDan shall be a serpent by the way,
A viper by the path,
That bites the horse’s heels
So that its rider shall fall backward.
18 aI have *waited for your salvation, O LORD!
19 “Gad,a1 a troop shall 2tramp upon him,
But he shall triumph at last.
20 “Bread from aAsher shall be rich,
And he shall yield royal dainties.
21 “Naphtalia is a deer let loose;
He uses beautiful words.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
23 The archers have abitterly grieved him,
Shot at him and hated him.
24 But his abow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were 1made strong
By the hands of bthe Mighty God of Jacob
c(From there dis the Shepherd, ethe Stone of Israel),
25 aBy the God of your father who will help you,
bAnd by the Almighty cwho will bless you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors,
aUp to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
bThey shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a aravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
bAnd at night he shall divide the spoil.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then he charged them and said to them: “I aam to be gathered to my people; bbury me with my fathers cin the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 “in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, awhich Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place.
31 a“There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, bthere they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah.
32 “The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.”
33 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
1 Then Joseph afell on his father’s face, and bwept over him, and kissed him.
2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to aembalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.
3 Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians amourned1 for him seventy days.
4 Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to athe household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,
5 a‘My father made me *swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave bwhich I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ”
6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8 as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.
9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.
10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they amourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. bHe observed seven days of mourning for his father.
11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called 1Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
12 So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them.
13 For ahis sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bbought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place.
14 And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, athey said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may 1actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.”
16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying,
17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; afor they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of bthe God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 Then his brothers also went and afell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
19 Joseph said to them, a“Do not be afraid, bfor am I in the place of God?
20 a“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but bGod meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
21 “Now therefore, do not be afraid; aI will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke 1kindly to them.
Death of Joseph
22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.
23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children ato the third generation. bThe children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, cwere also brought up on Joseph’s knees.
24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but aGod will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land bof which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
25 Then aJoseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, *“God will surely 1visit you, and byou shall carry up my cbones from here.”
26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.