Genesis 45:16-46:34

English Standard Version

¹⁶ When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. ¹⁷ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, ¹⁸ and take your father and your households, and come to me, and ^(A)I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take ^(B)wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. ²⁰ Have no concern for^[a] your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them ^(C)wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To each and all of them he gave ^(D)a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels^[b] of silver and ^(E)five changes of clothes. ²³ To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. ²⁴ Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, ^(F)“Do not quarrel on the way.”

²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. ²⁶ And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. ²⁷ But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw ^(G)the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Joseph Brings His Family to Egypt

46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to ^(H)Beersheba, and offered sacrifices ^(I)to the God of his father Isaac. ² And God spoke to Israel ^(J)in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” ³ Then he said, “I am God, ^(K)the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will ^(L)make you into a great nation. ⁴ I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also ^(M)bring you up again, and ^(N)Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.”

⁵ Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons ^(O)that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶ They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and ^(P)came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, ⁷ his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

^8 (Q)Now ^(R)these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. ^(S)Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, ⁹ and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰ The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹ The sons of ^(T)Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹² The sons of ^(U)Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but ^(V)Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of ^(W)Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ^13 (X)The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. ¹⁴ The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵ These are the sons of Leah, ^(Y)whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

¹⁶ The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. ^17 (Z)The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. ^18 (AA)These are the sons of Zilpah, ^(AB)whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.

¹⁹ The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰ And ^(AC)to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of ^(AD)On, bore to him. ²¹ And ^(AE)the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. ²² These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.

²³ The son^[c] of Dan: Hushim. ^24 (AF)The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ^25 (AG)These are the sons of Bilhah, ^(AH)whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.

²⁶ All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all. ²⁷ And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. ^(AI)All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

Jacob and Joseph Reunited

²⁸ He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came ^(AJ)into the land of Goshen. ²⁹ Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and ^(AK)fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. ³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, ^(AL)“Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” ³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, ^(AM)“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 (AN)And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ ³³ When Pharaoh calls you and says, ^(AO)‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴ you shall say, ^(AP)‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock ^(AQ)from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell ^(AR)in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is ^(AS)an abomination to the Egyptians.”