Genesis 50
50
Jacob’s Funeral and Joseph’s Remaining Time in Egypt
1Then Joseph fell on the face of his father and wept upon him and kissed him. 2And Joseph instructed his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3Forty days were required for it,#Literally “were fulfilled for it” for thus are the days required for#Literally “fulfilled” embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. 4When the days of his weeping had passed, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 5‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die. In the tomb that I have hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan—there you must bury me.” So then, please let me go up and let me bury my father; then I will return.’ ” 6Then Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father as he made you swear.” 7So Joseph went up to bury his father. And all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, went up with him, 8with all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and the household of his father. They left only their little children and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. 9And there also went up with him chariots and horsemen. The company was very great. 10When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which was beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful wailing. And he made a mourning ceremony for his father seven days. 11And when the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, saw the mourning ceremony at the threshing floor of Atad they said, “This is a severe mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel-Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.12Thus his sons did to him just as he had instructed them. 13And his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which field Abraham had bought as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite before#Or “east of” Mamre. 14And after burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
15And when the brothers of Joseph saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hold a grudge against us and pay us back dearly for all the evil that we did to him.” 16So they sent word to Joseph saying, “Your father commanded us before his death, saying, 17“Thus you must say to Joseph, ‘O, please now forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you.’ So now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18Then his brothers went also and fell before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19Then Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20As for you, you planned evil against me, but God planned it for good, in order to do this—to keep many people alive—as it is today. 21So then, do not be afraid. I myself will provide for you and your little ones. And he consoled them and spoke kindly#Literally “spoke to their heart” to them.
The Death of Joseph
22So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and the house of his father. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. Moreover, the children of Makir, son of Manasseh, were born on the knees of Joseph. 24And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly visit you and bring you up from this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall bring up my bones from here.” 26So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old. They embalmed him and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
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Genesis 50
50
1Joseph threw himself on his father, wept over him, and kissed him.
* * *
2-3Joseph then instructed the physicians in his employ to embalm his father. The physicians embalmed Israel. The embalming took forty days, the period required for embalming. There was public mourning by the Egyptians for seventy days.
4-5When the period of mourning was completed, Joseph petitioned Pharaoh’s court: “If you have reason to think kindly of me, present Pharaoh with my request: My father made me swear, saying, ‘I am ready to die. Bury me in the grave plot that I prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Please give me leave to go up and bury my father. Then I’ll come back.”
6Pharaoh said, “Certainly. Go and bury your father as he made you promise under oath.”
7-9So Joseph left to bury his father. And all the high-ranking officials from Pharaoh’s court went with him, all the dignitaries of Egypt, joining Joseph’s family—his brothers and his father’s family. Their children and flocks and herds were left in Goshen. Chariots and horsemen accompanied them. It was a huge funeral procession.
10Arriving at the Atad Threshing Floor just across the Jordan River, they stopped for a period of mourning, letting their grief out in loud and lengthy lament. For seven days, Joseph engaged in these funeral rites for his father.
11When the Canaanites who lived in that area saw the grief being poured out at the Atad Threshing Floor, they said, “Look how deeply the Egyptians are mourning.” That is how the site at the Jordan got the name Abel Mizraim (Egyptian Lament).
12-13Jacob’s sons continued to carry out his instructions to the letter. They took him on into Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre, the field that Abraham had bought as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.
* * *
14-15After burying his father, Joseph went back to Egypt. All his brothers who had come with him to bury his father returned with him. After the funeral, Joseph’s brothers talked among themselves: “What if Joseph is carrying a grudge and decides to pay us back for all the wrong we did him?”
16-17So they sent Joseph a message, “Before his death, your father gave this command: Tell Joseph, ‘Forgive your brothers’ sin—all that wrongdoing. They did treat you very badly.’ Will you do it? Will you forgive the sins of the servants of your father’s God?”
When Joseph received their message, he wept.
18Then the brothers went in person to him, threw themselves on the ground before him and said, “We’ll be your slaves.”
19-21Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I’ll take care of you and your children.” He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.
22-23Joseph continued to live in Egypt with his father’s family. Joseph lived 110 years. He lived to see Ephraim’s sons into the third generation. The sons of Makir, Manasseh’s son, were also recognized as Joseph’s.
24At the end, Joseph said to his brothers, “I am ready to die. God will most certainly pay you a visit and take you out of this land and back to the land he so solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
25Then Joseph made the sons of Israel promise under oath, “When God makes his visitation, make sure you take my bones with you as you leave here.”
26Joseph died at the age of 110 years. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.