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Genesis 48-50
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Genesis 48-50
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons
48 After this Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” he[a] summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[b] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me(A) 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers; I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding.’(B) 5 Therefore your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are now mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are.(C) 6 As for the offspring born to you after them, they shall be yours. They shall be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. 7 For when I came from Paddan, Rachel, alas, died in the land of Canaan on the way, while there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.”(D)
8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.”(E) 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.(F) 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face, and here God has let me see your children also.”(G) 12 Then Joseph removed them from his father’s knees,[c] and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them near him. 14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.(H) 15 He blessed Joseph and said,
“The God before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,(I)
16 the angel who has redeemed me from all harm, bless the boys,
and in them let my name be perpetuated and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac,
and let them grow into a multitude on the earth.”(J)
17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.(K) 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”(L) 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will invoke blessings, saying,
‘God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’ ”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your ancestors.(M) 22 I now give to you one portion[d] more than to your brothers, the portion[e] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”(N)
Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons
49 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in days to come.(O)
2 Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel your father.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the first fruits of my vigor,
excelling in rank and excelling in power.(P)
4 Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel
because you went up onto your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—you[f] went up onto my couch!(Q)
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.(R)
6 May I never come into their council;
may I not be joined to their company,
for in their anger they killed men,
and at their whim they hamstrung oxen.(S)
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.(T)
8 Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons shall bow down before you.(U)
9 Judah is a lion’s whelp;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion,
like a lioness—who dares rouse him up?(V)
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him,[g]
and the obedience of the peoples is his.(W)
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he washes his garments in wine
and his robe in the blood of grapes;
12 his eyes are darker than wine
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun shall settle at the shore of the sea;
he shall be a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.(X)
14 Issachar is a strong donkey,
lying down between the sheepfolds;
15 he saw that a resting place was good
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to the burden
and became a slave at forced labor.
16 Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.(Y)
17 Dan shall be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider falls backward.(Z)
18 I wait for your salvation, O Lord.(AA)
19 Gad shall be raided by raiders,
but he shall raid at their heels.(AB)
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough,[j]
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.[k](AE)
23 The archers fiercely attacked him;
they shot at him and pressed him hard.(AF)
24 Yet his bow remained taut,
and his arms[l] were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,(AG)
25 by the God of your father, who will help you,
by the Almighty[m] who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.(AH)
26 The blessings of your father
are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains,
the bounties[n] of the everlasting hills;
may they be on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.(AI)
27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening dividing the spoil.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, blessing each one of them with a suitable blessing.(AJ)
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then he charged them, saying to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,(AK) 30 in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.(AL) 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah.(AM) 32 The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob ended his charge to his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.(AN)
50 Then Joseph threw himself on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him.(AO) 2 Joseph commanded the physicians in his service to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel;(AP) 3 they spent forty days doing this, for that is the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.(AQ)
4 When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph addressed the household of Pharaoh, “If now I have found favor with you, please speak to Pharaoh as follows: 5 My father made me swear an oath; he said, ‘I am about to die. In the tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.’ Now therefore let me go up, so that I may bury my father; then I will return.”(AR) 6 Pharaoh answered, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen.(AS) 9 Both chariots and charioteers went up with him. It was a very great company. 10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they held there a very great and sorrowful lamentation, and he observed a time of mourning for his father seven days.(AT) 11 When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning on the part of the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim;[o] it is beyond the Jordan. 12 Thus his sons did for him as he had instructed them. 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, the field near Mamre, which Abraham bought as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.(AU) 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
Joseph Forgives His Brothers
15 Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?”(AV) 16 So they approached[p] Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers also wept,[q] fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.”(AW) 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God?(AX) 20 Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.(AY) 21 So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.(AZ)
Joseph’s Last Days and Death
22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived one hundred ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children of Machir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph’s knees.
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely come to you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”(BA) 25 So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Footnotes
- 48.2 Heb Israel
- 48.3 Traditional rendering of Heb El Shaddai
- 48.12 Heb from his knees
- 48.22 Or mountain slope
- 48.22 Or mountain slope
- 49.4 Gk Syr Tg: Heb he
- 49.10 Or until Shiloh comes or until he comes to Shiloh or (with Syr) until he comes to whom it belongs
- 49.20 Gk Vg Syr: Heb From Asher
- 49.21 Or that gives beautiful words
- 49.22 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 49.22 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 49.24 Heb the arms of his hands
- 49.25 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 49.26 Cn Compare Gk: Heb of my progenitors to the boundaries
- 50.11 That is, mourning of Egypt
- 50.16 Gk Syr: Heb they commanded
- 50.18 Cn: Heb also came
Genesis 48-50
New International Version
Genesis 48-50
New International Version
Manasseh and Ephraim
48 Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim(A) along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel(B) rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[a](C) appeared to me at Luz(D) in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me(E) 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers.(F) I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land(G) as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’(H)
5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt(I) before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine,(J) just as Reuben(K) and Simeon(L) are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan,[b](M) to my sorrow(N) Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).(O)
8 When Israel(P) saw the sons of Joseph,(Q) he asked, “Who are these?”
9 “They are the sons God has given me here,”(R) Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless(S) them.”
10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see.(T) So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them(U) and embraced them.(V)
11 Israel(W) said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again,(X) and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”(Y)
12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees(Z) and bowed down with his face to the ground.(AA) 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand,(AB) and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel(AC) reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head,(AD) though he was the younger,(AE) and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.(AF)
15 Then he blessed(AG) Joseph and said,
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,(AH)
the God who has been my shepherd(AI)
all my life to this day,
16 the Angel(AJ) who has delivered me from all harm(AK)
—may he bless(AL) these boys.(AM)
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,(AN)
and may they increase greatly
on the earth.”(AO)
17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand(AP) on Ephraim’s head(AQ) he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”(AR)
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great.(AS) Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he,(AT) and his descendants will become a group of nations.(AU)” 20 He blessed(AV) them that day(AW) and said,
“In your[c] name will Israel(AX) pronounce this blessing:(AY)
‘May God make you like Ephraim(AZ) and Manasseh.(BA)’”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you[d](BB) and take you[e] back to the land of your[f] fathers.(BC) 22 And to you I give one more ridge of land[g](BD) than to your brothers,(BE) the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword(BF) and my bow.”
Jacob Blesses His Sons(BG)
49 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.(BH)
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,(BK)
my might, the first sign of my strength,(BL)
excelling in honor,(BM) excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters,(BN) you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.(BO)
5 “Simeon(BP) and Levi(BQ) are brothers—
their swords[h] are weapons of violence.(BR)
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,(BS)
for they have killed men in their anger(BT)
and hamstrung(BU) oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury,(BV) so cruel!(BW)
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.(BX)
8 “Judah,[i](BY) your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck(BZ) of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.(CA)
9 You are a lion’s(CB) cub,(CC) Judah;(CD)
you return from the prey,(CE) my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,(CF)
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,[j]
until he to whom it belongs[k] shall come(CG)
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.(CH)
11 He will tether his donkey(CI) to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;(CJ)
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.(CK)
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.[l](CL)
13 “Zebulun(CM) will live by the seashore
and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend toward Sidon.(CN)
14 “Issachar(CO) is a rawboned[m] donkey
lying down among the sheep pens.[n](CP)
15 When he sees how good is his resting place
and how pleasant is his land,(CQ)
he will bend his shoulder to the burden(CR)
and submit to forced labor.(CS)
16 “Dan[o](CT) will provide justice for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.(CU)
17 Dan(CV) will be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,(CW)
that bites the horse’s heels(CX)
so that its rider tumbles backward.
22 “Joseph(DH) is a fruitful vine,(DI)
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches(DJ) climb over a wall.[r]
23 With bitterness archers attacked him;(DK)
they shot at him with hostility.(DL)
24 But his bow remained steady,(DM)
his strong arms(DN) stayed[s] limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,(DO)
because of the Shepherd,(DP) the Rock of Israel,(DQ)
25 because of your father’s God,(DR) who helps(DS) you,
because of the Almighty,[t](DT) who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
blessings of the deep springs below,(DU)
blessings of the breast(DV) and womb.(DW)
26 Your father’s blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than[u] the bounty of the age-old hills.(DX)
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,(DY)
on the brow of the prince among[v] his brothers.(DZ)
27 “Benjamin(EA) is a ravenous wolf;(EB)
in the morning he devours the prey,(EC)
in the evening he divides the plunder.”(ED)
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel,(EE) and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing(EF) appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29 Then he gave them these instructions:(EG) “I am about to be gathered to my people.(EH) Bury me with my fathers(EI) in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,(EJ) 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah,(EK) near Mamre(EL) in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field(EM) as a burial place(EN) from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There Abraham(EO) and his wife Sarah(EP) were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah(EQ) were buried, and there I buried Leah.(ER) 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.[w](ES)”
33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.(ET)
50 Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him.(EU) 2 Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him,(EV) 3 taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.(EW)
4 When the days of mourning(EX) had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court,(EY) “If I have found favor in your eyes,(EZ) speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, 5 ‘My father made me swear an oath(FA) and said, “I am about to die;(FB) bury me in the tomb I dug for myself(FC) in the land of Canaan.”(FD) Now let me go up and bury my father;(FE) then I will return.’”
6 Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials(FF) accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court(FG) and all the dignitaries of Egypt— 8 besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household.(FH) Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen.(FI) 9 Chariots(FJ) and horsemen[x] also went up with him. It was a very large company.
10 When they reached the threshing floor(FK) of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly;(FL) and there Joseph observed a seven-day period(FM) of mourning(FN) for his father.(FO) 11 When the Canaanites(FP) who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.”(FQ) That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.[y]
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them:(FR) 13 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah,(FS) near Mamre,(FT) which Abraham had bought along with the field(FU) as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.(FV) 14 After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.(FW)
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge(FX) against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”(FY) 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions(FZ) before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins(GA) and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’(GB) Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.(GC)” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.(GD)
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him.(GE) “We are your slaves,”(GF) they said.
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?(GG) 20 You intended to harm me,(GH) but God intended(GI) it for good(GJ) to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.(GK) 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.(GL)” And he reassured them and spoke kindly(GM) to them.
The Death of Joseph
22 Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years(GN) 23 and saw the third generation(GO) of Ephraim’s(GP) children.(GQ) Also the children of Makir(GR) son of Manasseh(GS) were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.[z](GT)
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die.(GU) But God will surely come to your aid(GV) and take you up out of this land to the land(GW) he promised on oath to Abraham,(GX) Isaac(GY) and Jacob.”(GZ) 25 And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath(HA) and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones(HB) up from this place.”(HC)
26 So Joseph died(HD) at the age of a hundred and ten.(HE) And after they embalmed him,(HF) he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Footnotes
- Genesis 48:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
- Genesis 48:7 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
- Genesis 48:20 The Hebrew is singular.
- Genesis 48:21 The Hebrew is plural.
- Genesis 48:21 The Hebrew is plural.
- Genesis 48:21 The Hebrew is plural.
- Genesis 48:22 The Hebrew for ridge of land is identical with the place name Shechem.
- Genesis 49:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Genesis 49:8 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.
- Genesis 49:10 Or from his descendants
- Genesis 49:10 Or to whom tribute belongs; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Genesis 49:12 Or will be dull from wine, / his teeth white from milk
- Genesis 49:14 Or strong
- Genesis 49:14 Or the campfires; or the saddlebags
- Genesis 49:16 Dan here means he provides justice.
- Genesis 49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for attack and also for band of raiders.
- Genesis 49:21 Or free; / he utters beautiful words
- Genesis 49:22 Or Joseph is a wild colt, / a wild colt near a spring, / a wild donkey on a terraced hill
- Genesis 49:24 Or archers will attack … will shoot … will remain … will stay
- Genesis 49:25 Hebrew Shaddai
- Genesis 49:26 Or of my progenitors, / as great as
- Genesis 49:26 Or of the one separated from
- Genesis 49:32 Or the descendants of Heth
- Genesis 50:9 Or charioteers
- Genesis 50:11 Abel Mizraim means mourning of the Egyptians.
- Genesis 50:23 That is, were counted as his
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