Genesis 50
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 50
1 Joseph threw himself on the face of his father. He wept upon him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph ordered his doctors to embalm Israel. 3 This took forty days, the time it takes to embalm. The Egyptians mourned for him for seventy days.
4 When the days of mourning were over, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh. He said, “If I have found favor in your sight, I wish to speak these words into the ears of Pharaoh: 5 My father made me take an oath: ‘Behold, I am about to die. Bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.’ May I go to bury my father and return?”
6 Pharaoh answered, “Go and bury your father as you have vowed to do.”
7 Joseph went to bury his father, and all the ministers of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as the household of Joseph and his brothers and the household of his father went with him. Only the children, flocks, and herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 Even the war chariots and the charioteers formed an imposing caravan.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, which is on the other side of the Jordan, they performed a great and solemn ritual mourning, and Joseph did seven days of mourning for his father. 11 The Canaanites living in that land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad and said, “It is a solemn funeral for the Egyptians.” Because of this they called the place Abel-mizraim, and it is on the other side of the Jordan.
12 Jacob’s sons did what he had commanded them to do for him. 13 They brought him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, the field that Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite to be his burial place and that faces Mamre. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt together with his brothers and those who had gone with him to bury his father.
15 Joseph’s Mission and His Death.[a] Now the brothers of Joseph began to be afraid because their father was dead, and they said, “Who knows if Joseph will not treat us like enemies and pay us back for the evil things we have done to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father, before he died, gave this command: 17 ‘Say to Joseph: Forgive the offense of your brothers and their sin for the evil that they have done against you. Forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.’ ” Joseph cried while they were speaking to him.
18 His brothers went up and bowed to the ground before him and said, “Behold your slaves.”
19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear. Am I God? 20 You intended to do evil to me, but God decided to make it serve a good, to fulfill that which today has come true: to keep alive a numerous people. 21 Therefore, do not fear. I will provide food for you and your children.” In this way, he consoled them and encouraged them.
22 Joseph and the family of his father lived in Egypt. He lived for one hundred and ten years. 23 Thus, Joseph saw the sons of Ephraim up to the third generation and also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, who was born upon the knees of Joseph.
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will come to visit you and will bring you out of this land to the land that he promised with an oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 25 Joseph had the sons of Israel swear an oath saying, “God will surely come to visit you, and then you are to carry my bones away with you.”
26 Joseph died when he was one hundred and ten years old. He was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.[b]
Footnotes
- Genesis 50:15 Secretly, Providence has woven the tissue of this history of Joseph. It was necessary that in the adventure readied for the sons of Jacob all Israel should go to Egypt. It is urgent for the Lord to intervene and make the children of Israel his people and to lead them into the Promised Land.
- Genesis 50:26 Thus ends the story of the origins of the Patriarchs. The points of departure for the Book of Exodus are laid. The first elements of the People of God are now in Egypt, whence they must one day return to the land promised to Abraham, the land of the Patriarchs, that of the tomb of ancestors, so that it may become the land of the People of God.
Genesis 50
EasyEnglish Bible
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]
Footnotes
- 50:3 ‘The Egyptians wept for 70 days’ shows that they were very sad. They did this when someone important died. Jacob was an important person in Egypt because he was Joseph's father.
- 50:11 ‘Abel Mizraim’ means ‘Egyptians are sad’.
- 50:23 When Joseph died, Makir's children would receive what Joseph's own children received.
- 50:26 See Exodus 13:19.
Genesis 50
King James Version
50 And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.
2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.
4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.
6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.
7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.
12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
15 And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.
24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
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