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Jacob and His Family Go to Egypt

46 Jacob packed up all he had and went to Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to him in a vision at night and called, “Jacob, Jacob!”

“Yes, here I am,” he answered.

“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go to Egypt; I will make your descendants a great nation there. I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring your descendants back to this land. Joseph will be with you when you die.”

Jacob set out from Beersheba. His sons put him, their small children, and their wives in the wagons which the king of Egypt had sent. (A)They took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan and went to Egypt. Jacob took all his descendants with him: his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters.

The members of Jacob's family who went to Egypt with him were his oldest son Reuben and Reuben's sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 Simeon and his sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 Levi and his sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 Judah and his sons: Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (Judah's other sons, Er and Onan, had died in Canaan.) Perez' sons were Hezron and Hamul. 13 Issachar and his sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron. 14 Zebulun and his sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons that Leah had borne to Jacob in Mesopotamia, besides his daughter Dinah. In all, his descendants by Leah numbered thirty-three.

16 Gad and his sons: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arod, and Areli. 17 Asher and his sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah's sons were Heber and Malchiel. 18 These sixteen are the descendants of Jacob by Zilpah, the slave woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah.

19 Jacob's wife Rachel bore him two sons: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 (B)In Egypt Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in Heliopolis. 21 Benjamin's sons were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These fourteen are the descendants of Jacob by Rachel.

23 Dan and his son Hushim. 24 Naphtali and his sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These seven are the descendants of Jacob by Bilhah, the slave woman whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel.

26 The total number of the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt was sixty-six, not including his sons' wives. 27 (C)Two sons were born to Joseph in Egypt, bringing to seventy the total number of Jacob's family who went there.

Jacob and His Family in Egypt

28 Jacob sent Judah ahead to ask Joseph to meet them in Goshen. When they arrived, 29 Joseph got in his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father. When they met, Joseph threw his arms around his father's neck and cried for a long time. 30 Jacob said to Joseph, “I am ready to die, now that I have seen you and know that you are still alive.”

31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and the rest of his father's family, “I must go and tell the king that my brothers and all my father's family, who were living in Canaan, have come to me. 32 I will tell him that you are shepherds and take care of livestock and that you have brought your flocks and herds and everything else that belongs to you. 33 When the king calls for you and asks what your occupation is, 34 be sure to tell him that you have taken care of livestock all your lives, just as your ancestors did. In this way he will let you live in the region of Goshen.” Joseph said this because Egyptians will have nothing to do with shepherds.

Jacob Moves to Egypt

46 So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to (A)Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the (B)God of his father Isaac. And (C)God spoke to Israel [a]in visions of the night and said, “(D)Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “(E)I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will (F)make you into a great nation there. (G)I will go down with you to Egypt, and (H)I will also assuredly bring you up again; and (I)Joseph will [b]close your eyes.”

Then Jacob left Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the (J)wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and their possessions, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and (K)came to Egypt, Jacob and all his [c]descendants with him: his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his [d]descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

Those Who Came to Egypt

Now these are the (L)names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 And the (M)sons of Simeon: [e]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, [f]Jachin, [g]Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 And the sons of Levi: [h]Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 And the sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the (N)sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 And the sons of Issachar: Tola, [i]Puvvah, [j]Iob, and Shimron. 14 And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; [k]all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. 16 And the (O)sons of Gad: [l]Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, [m]Ezbon, Eri, [n]Arodi, and Areli. 17 And the (P)sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. And the (Q)sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and she bore to Jacob these sixteen persons. 19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 (R)Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. 21 And the (S)sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, [o]Ehi, Rosh, [p]Muppim, [q]Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; there were fourteen persons in all. 23 And the sons of Dan: [r]Hushim. 24 And the sons of Naphtali: [s]Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and [t]Shillem. 25 These are the (T)sons of Bilhah, whom (U)Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all. 26 (V)All the people belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, [u]his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all, 27 and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were [v]two; (W)all the people of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy.

28 Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to [w]guide him to (X)Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 And Joseph [x]prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared to him, Joseph threw himself on his neck and (Y)wept on his neck a long time. 30 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.” 31 But Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “(Z)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 and the men are shepherds, for they have been [y]keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls for you and says, ‘(AA)What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been [z](AB)keepers of livestock since our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of (AC)Goshen; for every shepherd is an (AD)abomination to the Egyptians.”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 46:2 Lit in the visions
  2. Genesis 46:4 Lit put his hand on
  3. Genesis 46:6 Lit seed
  4. Genesis 46:7 Lit seed
  5. Genesis 46:10 In Num 26:12 and 1 Chr 4:24, Nemuel
  6. Genesis 46:10 In 1 Chr 4:24, Jarib
  7. Genesis 46:10 In Num 26:13 and 1 Chr 4:24, Zerah
  8. Genesis 46:11 In 1 Chr 6:16, Gershom
  9. Genesis 46:13 In Num 26:23, Puvah; in 1 Chr 7:1, Puah
  10. Genesis 46:13 In Num 26:24 and 1 Chr 7:1, Jashub
  11. Genesis 46:15 Lit all the souls of
  12. Genesis 46:16 In Num 26:15, Zephon
  13. Genesis 46:16 In Num 26:16, Ozni
  14. Genesis 46:16 In Num 26:17, Arod
  15. Genesis 46:21 In Num 26:38, Ahiram
  16. Genesis 46:21 In Num 26:39, Shephupham; in 1 Chr 7:12, Shuppim
  17. Genesis 46:21 In Num 26:39, Hupham
  18. Genesis 46:23 In Num 26:42, Shuham
  19. Genesis 46:24 In 1 Chr 7:13, Jahziel
  20. Genesis 46:24 In 1 Chr 7:13, Shallum
  21. Genesis 46:26 Lit who came out of his loins
  22. Genesis 46:27 Lit two souls
  23. Genesis 46:28 Lit instruct before him
  24. Genesis 46:29 Lit harnessed
  25. Genesis 46:32 Lit men
  26. Genesis 46:34 Lit men