Chapter 46

Migration to Egypt. ^1 [a]Israel set out with all that was his. When he arrived at Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ² There God, speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called: Jacob! Jacob! He answered, “Here I am.” ³ Then he said: I am God,^[b] the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you and I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes.

⁵ So Jacob departed from Beer-sheba, and the sons of Israel put their father and their wives and children on the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. ⁶ They took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. So Jacob and all his descendants came to Egypt.^{(A) 7} His sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters—all his descendants—he took with him to Egypt.

²⁸ Israel had sent Judah ahead to Joseph, so that he might meet him in Goshen. On his arrival in the region of Goshen, ²⁹ Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as Israel made his appearance, Joseph threw his arms around him and wept a long time on his shoulder. ³⁰ And Israel said to Joseph, “At last I can die, now that I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”