Genesis 40:12-50:26

New American Standard Bible

¹² Then Joseph said to him, “This is the ^(A)interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; ¹³ within three more days Pharaoh will ^[a]lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand as in your former practice when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ Only ^[b]keep me in mind when it goes well for you, and please ^(B)do me a kindness ^[c]by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this ^[d]prison. ¹⁵ For ^(C)I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the ^[e]dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; ¹⁷ and in the top basket there were some of all ^[f]kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸ Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; ¹⁹ within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a wooden post, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

²⁰ So it came about on the third day, which was ^(D)Pharaoh’s birthday, that he held a feast for all his servants; ^(E)and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer to his ^[g]office, and ^(F)he put the cup into Pharaoh’s ^[h]hand; ²² but ^(G)he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but ^(H)forgot him.

Pharaoh’s Dream

41 Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. ² And behold, from the Nile seven cows came up, fine-looking and ^[i]fat; and they grazed in the ^(I)marsh grass. ³ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and ^[j]thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴ Then the ugly and ^[k]thin cows ate the seven fine-looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ But he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. ⁶ Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. ⁷ And the thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸ Now in the morning ^(J)his spirit was troubled, so he sent messengers and called for all the ^(K)soothsayer priests of Egypt, and all its ^(L)wise men. And Pharaoh told them his ^[l]dreams, but ^(M)there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would make mention today of ^(N)my own ^[m]offenses. ¹⁰ Pharaoh was ^(O)furious with his servants, and ^(P)he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker. ¹¹ Then ^(Q)we had a dream one night, ^[n]he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. ¹² Now a Hebrew youth was there with us, a ^(R)servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we told him the dreams, and ^(S)he interpreted our dreams for us. For each man he interpreted according to his own dream. ¹³ And just ^(T)as he interpreted for us, so it happened; Pharaoh restored me in my office, but he hanged ^[o]the chief baker.”

Joseph Interprets

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent word and ^(U)called for Joseph, and they ^(V)hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, ^(W)but no one can interpret it; and ^(X)I have heard ^[p]it said about you, that ^[q]when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶ Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “^[r](Y)It has nothing to do with me; ^(Z)God will ^[s]give Pharaoh an answer for his own good.” ¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile; ¹⁸ and behold, seven cows, ^[t]fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ^[u]ugly and ^[v]thin, such as I had never seen for ^[w]ugliness in all the land of Egypt; ²⁰ and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows. ²¹ Yet when they had ^[x]devoured them, it could not be ^[y]detected that they had ^[z]devoured them, ^[aa]for they were just as ugly as ^[ab]before. Then I awoke. ²² I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk; ²³ and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them; ²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then ^(AA)I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ And Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s ^[ac]dreams are one and the same; ^(AB)God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the ^[ad]dreams are one and the same. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind ^(AC)will be seven years of famine. ^28 [ae]It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: ^(AD)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Behold, ^(AE)seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ and after them ^(AF)seven years of famine will ^[af]come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ^[ag]ravage the land. ³¹ So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe. ³² Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^(AG)the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about. ³³ So now let Pharaoh look for a man ^(AH)discerning and wise, and appoint him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers ^[ah]in charge of the land, and let him take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt as a tax in the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Then have them ^(AI)collect all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and have them guard it. ³⁶ Let the food be used as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”

³⁷ Now the ^[ai]proposal seemed good ^[aj]to Pharaoh and ^[ak]to all his servants.

Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt

³⁸ Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, ^(AJ)in whom there is a divine spirit?” ³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one as ^(AK)discerning and wise as you are. ^40 (AL)You shall be ^[al]in charge of my house, and all my people shall ^[am]be obedient to you; only regarding the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I have placed you ^(AM)over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh ^(AN)took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and ^(AO)put the gold necklace around his neck. ⁴³ And he had him ride in ^[an]his second chariot; and they proclaimed ahead of him, “^[ao]Bow the knee!” And he placed him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet ^(AP)without ^[ap]your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh named Joseph ^[aq]Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ^[ar](AQ)On, to be his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Now Joseph was ^(AR)thirty years old when he ^[as]stood in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven years of plenty the land produced ^[at]abundantly. ⁴⁸ So he collected all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities; he put in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up grain ^[au]in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped ^[av]measuring it, for it was ^[aw]beyond measure.

The Sons of Joseph

⁵⁰ Now before the year of famine came, ^(AS)two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of ^[ax]On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn ^[ay]Manasseh; “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all of my father’s household.” ⁵² And he named the second ^[az]Ephraim; “For,” he said, “^(AT)God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ When the seven years of plenty which had taken place in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴ and ^(AU)the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ So when all the land of Egypt suffered famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; ^(AV)whatever he says to you, you shall do.” ⁵⁶ When the famine was spread over the entire face of the earth, then Joseph opened all ^[ba]the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because ^(AW)the famine was severe in all the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

42 Now ^(AX)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” ² Then he said, “Look, ^(AY)I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from ^[bb]that place, ^(AZ)so that we may live and not die.” ³ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother ^(BA)Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “^(BB)I am afraid that harm may happen to him.” ⁵ So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, ^(BC)because the famine was also in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now ^(BD)Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^(BE)bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and ^(BF)spoke to them harshly. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸ But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although ^(BG)they did not recognize him. ⁹ And Joseph ^(BH)remembered the dreams which he ^[bc]had about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ^[bd]undefended parts of our land.” ¹⁰ And they said to him, “No, ^(BI)my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all sons of one man; we are ^(BJ)honest men, your servants are not spies.” ¹² Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ^[be]undefended parts of our land!” ¹³ But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with ^(BK)our father today, and ^(BL)one is no longer alive.” ¹⁴ Yet Joseph said to them, “It is as I said ^[bf]to you, you are spies; ¹⁵ by this you will be tested: ^(BM)by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶ Send one of you and have him get your brother, while you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, whether there is ^(BN)truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, you are certainly spies!” ¹⁷ So he put them all together in ^(BO)prison for three days.

¹⁸ Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for ^(BP)I fear God: ¹⁹ if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in ^[bg]your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households, ²⁰ and ^(BQ)bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so. ²¹ Then they said to one another, “^(BR)Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.” ²² Reuben answered them, saying, “^(BS)Did I not tell ^[bh]you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? ^[bi](BT)Now justice for his blood is required.” ²³ They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴ Then he turned away from them and ^(BU)wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he ^(BV)took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. ^25 (BW)Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, but also to return every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And that is what was done for them.

²⁶ So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. ²⁷ But when one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the overnight campsite, he saw his ^(BX)money; and behold, it was in the opening of his sack! ²⁸ So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and look, it is right in my sack!” Then their hearts ^[bj]sank, and they turned ^[bk]trembling to one another, saying, “^(BY)What is this that God has done to us?”

Simeon Is Held Hostage

²⁹ When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, ^(BZ)spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are ^(CA)honest men; we are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ But the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘^(CB)By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go. ³⁴ But bring your youngest brother to me so that I may know that you are not spies, but ^[bl]honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may ^(CC)trade in the land.’”

³⁵ Now it came about, as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, ^(CD)every man’s bag of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bags of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ And their father Jacob said to them, “You have ^(CE)deprived me of my sons: Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” ³⁷ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my ^[bm]care, and I will return him to you.” ³⁸ But ^[bn]Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his ^(CF)brother is dead, and he alone is left. ^(CG)If harm should happen to him on the journey ^[bo]you are taking, then you will ^(CH)bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

The Return to Egypt

43 ^(CI)Now the famine was severe in the land. ² So it came about, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” ³ Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “^(CJ)The man sternly warned ^[bp]us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵ But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶ Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, ^[bq]by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” ⁷ But they said, “The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, ‘^(CK)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we ^[br]answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸ So Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, ^(CL)so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ^9 (CM)I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from ^[bs]me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then ^[bt]you can let me take the blame forever. ¹⁰ For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ^[bu]bags, and carry down to the man ^(CN)as a gift, a little ^(CO)balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and ^[bv]myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^(CP)the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³ Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; ¹⁴ and may ^[bw](CQ)God Almighty ^(CR)grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you ^(CS)your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(CT)if I am bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved!” ¹⁵ So the men took ^(CU)this gift, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they set out and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his ^(CV)house steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make preparations; for the men are to dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷ So the man did as Joseph said, and ^[bx]brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, so that he may ^[by]attack us and ^[bz]overpower us, and take us as slaves with our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So they approached Joseph’s house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, ²⁰ and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, ²¹ and it happened when we came to the campsite, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^(CW)each man’s money was in the opening of his sack, our money in ^[ca]full. So ^(CX)we have brought it back in our hand. ²² We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³ But he said, “Peace be to you, do not be afraid. ^(CY)Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your ^[cb]money was in my possession.” Then ^(CZ)he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^(DA)gave them water, and they ^(DB)washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. ²⁵ So they prepared ^(DC)the gift ^[cc]for Joseph’s arrival at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ^[cd]a meal there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the gift which was in their hand, and they ^(DD)bowed down to the ground before him. ²⁷ Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, “^(DE)Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸ And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” Then ^(DF)they bowed down again ^[ce]in homage. ²⁹ And as he raised his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this ^(DG)your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” Then he said, “^(DH)May God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Joseph then hurried out, for ^[cf](DI)he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he looked for a place to weep; so he entered his chamber and ^(DJ)wept there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out; and he ^(DK)controlled himself and said, “^[cg]Serve the meal.” ³² Then they served him by himself, and ^[ch]Joseph’s brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an ^(DL)abomination to the Egyptians. ³³ Now they ^[ci]were seated before him, from ^(DM)the firstborn according to his birthright to the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. ³⁴ Then he took portions to them from ^[cj]his own table, ^(DN)but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank freely with him.

The Brothers Are Brought Back

44 ^(DO)Then he commanded his house steward, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the opening of his sack. ² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the opening of the sack of the youngest, and his money for the grain.” And he did ^[ck]as Joseph had told him. ^3 [cl]As soon as it was light, the men were sent away, they with their donkeys. ⁴ They had just left ^(DP)the city, and were not far away, when Joseph said to his house steward, “Up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? ⁵ Is this not that from which my lord drinks, and which he indeed uses for ^(DQ)divination? You have done wrong in doing this!’”

⁶ So ^[cm]he overtook them and spoke these words to them. ⁷ And they said to him, “Why does my lord say such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ⁸ Behold, ^(DR)the money which we found in the opening of our sacks we have brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? ^9 (DS)With whomever of your servants it is found, he shall die, and we also shall be my lord’s ^(DT)slaves.” ¹⁰ So he said, “Now let it indeed be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, but the rest of you shall be considered innocent.” ¹¹ Then they hurried, each man lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. ¹² And he searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and ^(DU)the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ Then they ^(DV)tore their clothes in grief, and when each man had loaded his donkey, they returned to ^(DW)the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there, and ^(DX)they fell down to the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What is this thing that you have done? Do you not know that a man who is like me can indeed practice ^(DY)divination?” ¹⁶ So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What words can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s ^(DZ)slaves, both we and the one in whose ^[cn]possession the cup has been found.” ¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose ^[co]possession the cup has been found, he shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah approached him and said, “Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and ^[cp](EA)do not be angry with your servant; for ^(EB)you are equal to Pharaoh. ^19 (EC)My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and ^(ED)a little boy born in our father’s old age. Now ^(EE)his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’ ²¹ Then you said to your servants, ‘^(EF)Bring him down to me so that I may set my eyes on him.’ ²² But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, ^[cq]his father would die.’ ²³ You said to your servants, however, ‘^(EG)Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ ²⁴ So it came about when we went up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵ And ^(EH)our father said, ‘Go back, 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 cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that ^(EI)my wife bore me two sons; ²⁸ and the one left me, and ^(EJ)I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since. ²⁹ If you also take this one from ^[cr]me, and harm happens to him, you will ^(EK)bring my gray hair down to Sheol in ^[cs]sorrow.’ ³⁰ So now, when I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us—since ^[ct](EL)our father’s life is so attached to the boy’s life— ³¹ when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. So your servants will ^(EM)bring the gray hair of your servant, our father, down to Sheol in sorrow. ³² For your servant ^(EN)accepted responsibility for the boy from my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then ^[cu]my father can let me take the blame forever.’ ³³ So now, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how shall I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear that I may see the evil that would ^[cv]overtake my father.”

Joseph Deals Kindly with His Brothers

45 Then Joseph could not control himself in front of everyone standing before him, and he shouted, “Have everyone leave me!” So there ^[cw]was no one with him ^(EO)when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² Then ^(EP)he ^[cx]wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard about it. ³ And Joseph said to his brothers, “^(EQ)I am Joseph! ^(ER)Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for ^(ES)they were terrified in his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come ^[cy]closer to me.” And they came ^[cz]closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you ^(ET)sold to Egypt. ⁵ Now do not be grieved or angry ^[da]with yourselves because ^(EU)you sold me here, for ^(EV)God sent me ahead of you ^[db]to save lives. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land ^(EW)these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷ So ^(EX)God sent me ahead of you to ensure for you a remnant on the earth, and to ^[dc]keep you alive by a great deliverance. ⁸ Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a ^(EY)father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry and go up to my father, and ^(EZ)say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. ¹⁰ For you shall live in the land of ^(FA)Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your ^[dd]grandchildren, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. ¹¹ There I will also ^(FB)provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.”’ ¹² Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you. ¹³ Now you must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and ^(FC)bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and ^(FD)wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ Now when ^(FE)the ^[de]news was heard in Pharaoh’s house ^[df]that Joseph’s brothers had come, it ^[dg]pleased Pharaoh and his servants. ¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your livestock and ^[dh]go to the land of Canaan, ¹⁸ and take your father and your households and come to me; and ^(FF)I will give you the ^[di]best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: ^[dj]take ^(FG)wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. ²⁰ And do not ^[dk]concern yourselves with your property, for the ^[dl]best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them ^(FH)wagons according to the ^[dm]command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To ^[dn]each of them he gave ^(FI)changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and ^(FJ)five changes of garments. ²³ And to his father he sent ^[do]the following: ten male donkeys loaded with the ^[dp]best things of Egypt, ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and sustenance for his father ^[dq]on the journey.

²⁴ So he sent his brothers away, and ^[dr]as they departed, he said to them, “Do not ^[ds]quarrel on the journey.” ²⁵ Then they went up from Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan, to their father Jacob. ²⁶ And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” But ^[dt]he was stunned, for ^(FK)he did not believe them. ²⁷ When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the ^(FL)wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, then the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ Then Israel said, “It is enough; my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Jacob Moves to Egypt

46 So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to ^(FM)Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the ^(FN)God of his father Isaac. ² And ^(FO)God spoke to Israel ^[du]in visions of the night and said, “^(FP)Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” ³ Then He said, “^(FQ)I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will ^(FR)make you into a great nation there. ^4 (FS)I will go down with you to Egypt, and ^(FT)I will also assuredly bring you up again; and ^(FU)Joseph will ^[dv]close your eyes.”

⁵ Then Jacob left Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the ^(FV)wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They also took their livestock and their possessions, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and ^(FW)came to Egypt, Jacob and all his ^[dw]descendants with him: ⁷ his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his ^[dx]descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

Those Who Came to Egypt

⁸ Now these are the ^(FX)names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. ⁹ And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰ And the ^(FY)sons of Simeon: ^[dy]Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, ^[dz]Jachin, ^[ea]Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹ And the sons of Levi: ^[eb]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 ^(FZ)sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³ And the sons of Issachar: Tola, ^[ec]Puvvah, ^[ed]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; ^[ee]all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. ¹⁶ And the ^(GA)sons of Gad: ^[ef]Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, ^[eg]Ezbon, Eri, ^[eh]Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷ And the ^(GB)sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. And the ^(GC)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 (GD)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 ^(GE)sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, ^[ei]Ehi, Rosh, ^[ej]Muppim, ^[ek]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: ^[el]Hushim. ²⁴ And the sons of Naphtali: ^[em]Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and ^[en]Shillem. ²⁵ These are the ^(GF)sons of Bilhah, whom ^(GG)Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all. ^26 (GH)All the people belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, ^[eo]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 ^[ep]two; ^(GI)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 ^[eq]guide him to ^(GJ)Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. ²⁹ And Joseph ^[er]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 ^(GK)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, “^(GL)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 ^[es]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, ‘^(GM)What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been ^[et](GN)keepers of livestock since our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of ^(GO)Goshen; for every shepherd is an ^(GP)abomination to the Egyptians.”

Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen

47 Then ^(GQ)Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of ^(GR)Goshen.” ² And he took five men from among his brothers and ^(GS)presented them to Pharaoh. ³ Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “^(GT)What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are ^(GU)shepherds, both we and our fathers.” ⁴ They also said to Pharaoh, “^(GV)We have come to reside in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for ^(GW)the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let your servants ^(GX)live in the land of Goshen.” ⁵ Then Pharaoh said to ^[eu]Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is ^[ev]at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in ^(GY)the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any ^(GZ)capable men among them, then ^[ew]put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and ^[ex]presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob ^(HA)blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many ^[ey]years have you lived?” ⁹ So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The ^[ez](HB)years of my living abroad are ^[fa]130; few and ^[fb]unpleasant have been the ^[fc]years of my life, nor have they ^[fd]attained ^(HC)the ^[fe]years ^[ff]that my fathers lived during the days of their living abroad.” ¹⁰ So Jacob ^(HD)blessed Pharaoh, and went out from ^[fg]his presence. ¹¹ Now Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them property in the land of Egypt, in ^(HE)the best of the land, in the land of ^(HF)Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered. ¹² Joseph also ^(HG)provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with ^[fh]food, according to the ^[fi]number of their little ones.

¹³ Now there was no ^[fj]food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that ^(HH)the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ¹⁴ And ^(HI)Joseph collected all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in payment for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵ When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph saying, “Give us ^[fk]food, for ^(HJ)why should we die in your presence? For our money is ^[fl]gone.” ¹⁶ Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is ^[fm]gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them ^[fn]food in exchange for the horses and the ^[fo]flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he ^[fp]fed them with ^[fq]food in exchange for all their livestock ^[fr]that year. ¹⁸ But when that year ended, they came to him the ^[fs]next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord the fact that our money is all spent, and the ^[ft]livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left ^[fu]for my lord except our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for ^[fv]food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

Result of the Famine

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for ^[fw]every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ As for the people, he relocated them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other. ²² Only the land of the priests he did not buy, because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they ^[fx]lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land. ²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, today I have purchased you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land. ^24 [fy]At the harvest you shall give a ^(HK)fifth to Pharaoh, and ^[fz]four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food, and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.” ²⁵ So they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁶ Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, valid to this day, that Pharaoh was to have the fifth; ^(HL)only the land of the priests ^[ga]did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in ^[gb]Goshen, and they ^(HM)acquired property in it and ^(HN)were fruitful and became very numerous. ²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for ^(HO)seventeen years; so the ^[gc]length of Jacob’s life was 147 years.

²⁹ When ^[gd](HP)the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your sight, ^(HQ)place your hand under my thigh now and ^(HR)deal with me in kindness and ^[ge]faithfulness: please do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I ^(HS)[gf]lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in ^(HT)their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.” ³¹ And he said, “^(HU)Swear to me.” So he swore to him. Then ^(HV)Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.

Israel’s Last Days

48 Now it came about after these things that ^[gg]Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons ^(HW)Manasseh and Ephraim with him. ² When ^[gh]it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel ^[gi]collected his strength and sat ^[gj]up in the bed. ³ Then Jacob said to Joseph, “^[gk](HX)God Almighty appeared to me at ^(HY)Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your ^[gl]descendants after you as ^(HZ)an everlasting possession.’ ⁵ Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; ^(IA)Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as ^(IB)Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶ But your children that you have fathered after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the ^[gm]names of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ Now as for me, when I came from ^(IC)Paddan, ^(ID)Rachel died, ^[gn]to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath. I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸ When Israel ^(IE)saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹ And Joseph said to his father, “^(IF)They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, so that ^(IG)I may bless them.” ¹⁰ Now ^(IH)the eyes of Israel were so ^[go]dim from age that he could not see. And ^[gp]Joseph brought them close to him, and he ^(II)kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, “I never ^[gq]expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your ^[gr]children as well!” ¹² Then Joseph ^[gs]took them from his knees, and ^(IJ)bowed with his face to the ground. ¹³ And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him. ¹⁴ But Israel reached out his right hand and placed it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although ^(IK)Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph, and said,

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father ^(IQ)placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to move 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. Place your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and ^(IR)his ^[gw]descendants shall become ^[gx]a multitude of nations.” ²⁰ So ^(IS)he blessed them that day, saying,

And so he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but ^(IT)God will be with you, and ^(IU)bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²² And I give you one ^[gy]portion more than your brothers, ^(IV)which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

Jacob’s Prophecy concerning His Sons

49 Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves, so that I may tell you what will happen to you ^(IW)in the ^[gz]days to come.

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them ^[hz]when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one ^[ia]with the blessing appropriate to him.

Jacob Dies

²⁹ Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be ^(KD)gathered to my people; ^(KE)bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in ^(KF)the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the ^(KG)cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a ^[ib]burial site. ³¹ There they buried ^(KH)Abraham and his wife ^(KI)Sarah, there they buried ^(KJ)Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah— ³² the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.” ³³ When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and ^(KK)breathed his last, and was ^(KL)gathered to his people.

Jacob Is Buried

50 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him. ² Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians ^(KM)embalmed Israel. ³ Now forty days were ^[ic]required for ^[id]it, for ^[ie]such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians ^(KN)wept for him seventy days.

⁴ When the days of ^[if]mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak ^[ig]to Pharaoh, saying, ⁵ ‘^(KO)My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave ^(KP)which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now then, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’” ⁶ 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 household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. ⁹ Chariots with teams of horses also went up with him; and it was a very great company. ¹⁰ When they came to the ^[ih]threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they ^(KQ)mourned there with a very great and ^[ii]sorrowful lamentation; and he ^[ij]observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹ Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at ^[ik]the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a ^[il]grievous ^[im]mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named ^[in]Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

Burial at Machpelah

¹² And so his sons did for him as he had commanded them; ¹³ for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in ^(KR)the cave of the field of Machpelah opposite Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a ^[io]burial site from Ephron the Hittite. ¹⁴ And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers had seen that their father was dead, they said, “^(KS)What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!” ¹⁶ So they sent instructions to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded us before he died, saying, ¹⁷ ‘This is what you shall say to Joseph: “Please forgive, I beg you, the offense of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.”’ And now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ Then his brothers also came and ^(KT)fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? ²⁰ As for you, ^(KU)you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about ^[ip]this present result, to keep many people alive. ²¹ So therefore, do not be afraid; ^(KV)I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke ^[iq]kindly to them.

Death of Joseph

²² Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived 110 years. ²³ Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were ^(KW)born on Joseph’s knees. ²⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “^(KX)I am about to die, but God will assuredly ^[ir]take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He ^[is]promised on oath to ^(KY)Abraham, to ^(KZ)Isaac, and to ^(LA)Jacob.” ²⁵ Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will assuredly ^[it]take care of you, and ^(LB)you shall carry my bones up from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of 110 years; and they ^(LC)embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.