50 Joseph bent down near his father's face. He wept over him and he kissed him. ² Then Joseph told some of his servants to take Jacob's body. They knew how to put special oil on the body so that it would not become spoiled. Joseph's servants did what he told them to do. ³ The servants took care of the body for 40 days, which is the usual time. The Egyptians wept for 70 days because of Jacob's death.^[a]

⁴ The time for them to weep came to an end. Joseph said to Pharaoh's officers, ‘If you agree, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him this: ⁵ My father made me make a promise. He said, “I will soon die. Bury me in the grave that I prepared for myself in Canaan.” So please let me go and bury my father there. Then I will return.’ ⁶ Pharaoh said, ‘Go and bury your father's body in the way that you promised him.’

⁷ So Joseph went to Canaan to bury his father. All Pharaoh's officers went with him. The important people who lived in Pharaoh's palace, as well as the important Egyptian officers, all went with Joseph. ⁸ Everyone in Joseph's family also went with him. His brothers and their families went, but they did not take their young children or their animals. They left those in Goshen. ⁹ Many soldiers also went with them. Some of them rode in chariots and some rode on horses.

¹⁰ They came to Atad's threshing floor, near the Jordan River. They stayed there for seven days to weep for the death of Jacob. They were very sad. ¹¹ The Canaanite people who lived near there saw how sad Joseph and his people were. So they gave Atad's threshing floor a different name. They called it ‘Abel Mizraim’.^[b] They said, ‘The Egyptians are showing that they are very sad because an important person has died.’

¹² So Jacob's sons did what he had told them to do. ¹³ They carried his body to Canaan. They buried him there in the cave, in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre. That is the cave that Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite. He had bought it as a grave for him and for his family.

¹⁴ When Joseph had buried his father, he returned to Egypt together with his brothers. Everyone who had gone to Canaan with him also returned to Egypt.

¹⁵ Now Jacob was dead and Joseph's brothers became frightened. They said to each other, ‘We did a bad thing to Joseph. Now he will be angry and he will punish us for what we did.’ ¹⁶ So they sent a message to Joseph. They said, ‘Your father said this to us before he died. ¹⁷ He told us to say to you, “Please forgive your brothers for the very bad thing that they did against you. They did a very cruel thing to you.” So please forgive our sin. We are servants of your father's God.’

When Joseph received their message, he was very upset and he wept. ¹⁸ His brothers came to see him. They bent down low to the ground in front of Joseph. They said to him, ‘We are your slaves.’ ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid of me. It is God who has the authority to punish people. I am not God! ²⁰ You decided to hurt me. But God caused a good thing to happen because of that. God brought me here to save the lives of many people. You can see how that has really happened! ²¹ So do not be afraid. I will continue to take care of you. You and your children will receive what you need.’ In this way Joseph comforted them and he spoke kind words to them.

Joseph dies

²² Joseph lived in Egypt, together with his father's family. He lived for 110 years. ²³ And he was still alive to see Ephraim's children and grandchildren. He also saw Makir's children. Makir was Manasseh's son. Joseph took Makir's children to be his own children.^[c]

²⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I will soon die. But God will come to you and he will help you. He will take you out of Egypt. He will take you back to the land that he promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ ²⁵ He also said, ‘God will help you to leave Egypt. When that happens, you must carry my bones away from here.’ Joseph made the other sons of Israel promise that they would do that.

²⁶ So Joseph died when he was 110 years old. They put special oil on his body so that it would not become spoiled. Then they put his body in a box there in Egypt.^[d]