Genesis 50
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
50 And when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his father's face weeping and kissing him.
2 And he commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father.
3 And while they were fulfilling his commands, there passed forty days: for this was the manner with bodies that were embalmed, and Egypt mourned for him seventy days.
4 And the time of the mourning being expired, Joseph spoke to the family of Pharao: If I have found favour in your sight, speak in the ears of Pharao:
5 For my father made me swear to him, saying: Behold I die: thou shalt bury me in my sepulchre which I have digged for myself in the land of Chanaan. So I will go up and bury my father, and return.
6 And Pharao said to him: Go up and bury thy father according as he made thee swear.
7 So he went up, and there went with him all the ancients of Pharao's house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8 And the house of Joseph with his brethren, except their children, and their flocks and herds, which they left in the land of Gessen.
9 He had also in his train chariots and horsemen: and it was a great company.
10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan: where celebrating the exequies with a great and vehement lamentation, they spent full seven days.
11 And when the inhabitants of Chanaan saw this, they said: This is a great mourning to the Egyptians. And therefore the name of that place was called, The mourning of Egypt.
12 So the sons of Jacob did as he had commanded them.
13 And carrying him into the land of Chanaan, they buried him in the double cave which Abraham had bought together with the field for a possession of a buryingplace, of Ephron the Hethite over against Mambre.
14 And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brethren, and all that were in his company, after he had buried his father.
15 Now he being dead, his brethren were afraid, and talked one with another: Lest perhaps he should remember the wrong he suffered, and requite us all the evil that we did to him.
16 And they sent a message to him, saying: Thy father commanded us before he died,
17 That we should say thus much to thee from him: I beseech thee to forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice they practiced against thee: we also pray thee, to forgive the servants of the God of thy father this wickedness. And when Joseph heard this, he wept.
18 And his brethren came to him: and worshipping prostrate on the ground they said: We are thy servants.
19 And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of God?
20 You thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that he might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.
21 Fear not: I will feed you and your children. And he comforted them, and spoke gently and mildly.
22 And he dwelt in Egypt with all his father's house: and lived a hundred and ten years. And he saw the children of Ephraim to the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasses were born on Joseph's knees.
23 After which he told his brethren: God will visit you after my death, and will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
24 And he made them swear to him, saying: God will visit you, carry my bones with you out of this place:
25 And he died being a hundred and ten years old. And being embalmed he was laid in a coffin in Egypt.
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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